“Some Words for the Week”

I hear about the moths

they are everywhere right now

how they fly into your face

how they clog up the lights

with their worship and hovering

most people I know

roll up magazines and books

try their best to rid the house

of this furry flying things

I bring one in with the split wood

for the fire come night

and as I choose my starting logs

a moth flies out, first into my face

then up and onto the ceiling

I take off my slipper

and smash it into a black mark

against the white drywall

but I regret that

for after cleaning up

the remnants of the life

I snuffed for no reason

besides the fact that I could

I google “moths in Colorado”

and learn that these things

miller moths are pollinators

and are on a migration

from where they are born

three centimeters below dirt

down the mountains

into the eastern plains

bringing with them the makings

of flowers and fruit

these moths are just travelers

with an important mission

to feed our bodies and hearts

with blooms and blossoms

carried on their backs

for their short lifespan

here and never to return

so I vow to not kill them

and save the apples

and the carrot flowers

and use a cup and some paper

to catch them against the wall

and then free them into the air

and as I do that I remember

we built our houses

our cities our jails our lives

so instead of hindering

these winged wayward souls

on their slow fluttering way

Alexander Shalom Joseph is a writer from Gilpin County. He has two published books and one more forthcoming in the Fall of 2022. For more information and to subscribe to Alexander’s Newsletter go to alexandershalomjoseph.com