“Some Words for the Week”

At this point

we know what a tree

looks like on the inside

when it’s cut down and apart

kiln dried and sanded

and stained

and forced into some shape

we find useful

almost as much as we know

what a tree

looks like standing

blowing slightly in the wind

we’ve felled entire forests

to build an empire

of plywood and junk mail

and pizza boxes

and two by fours

we’ve cut down entire forests

let them grow back up

and then cut them down again

to make all of this waste

imagine that

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