“Some Words for the Week”

All these back breaking

endless afternoons

hauling gravel

cutting studs

mudding drywall

all this for the poem

and to stay just a little wild

and out of the office

all this ware

all these calluses

and small cuts on my fingers

all this sweat and sawdust

and blood and primer

all this noise and heavy lifting

all this and so much more

I do because I want to be

something more than

just a worker

I want to write poems

that make people cry

that make people think

for a second about the woods

how the wind moves the leaves

of the aspen trees

I want to write poems

that will mean something

to somebody

long after the work

and the loneliness

catches up with me

I want to write a poem

that will rise up

like a prayer

beyond all this work and hurt

rise up and into the world

and fall on the lap of some kid

who like me was looking

for something worth living for

here it is

it’s not easy

but nothing is

pick up a hammer

and a pen and paper

get to work

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