“Some Words for the Week”

There’s a spider

the size of a pinhead

on my windshield

as I drive down the mountain

into the sprawl and swelter

of the city in the summer

the spider slides

up and down its web

right in front of my eyes

this piece of the forest

stuck with me

as I sink down

into the human world

of work and wire

us together for miles

as the trees wane to concrete

as the mountains wane

to soulless stretches of glass

metal and conference rooms

me and this spider ride

two things too wild perhaps

for a place like that

longing I think

for air off the divide

and that soft rolling green

so gentle on the eyes and heart

and what’s left of our souls

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