“Some Words for the Week”

Mountains stand sober

at the horizon line

the country’s halfway point

jagged and granite

and snow dusted

they’ve got so many names

ones I know

the Fourteeners

the Rockies

the Flatirons

the Blood of Christ

not to mention

what those who lived here

before us

called them

back when these peaks

were as tall and revered

as any other silent gods

but this morning

as I drive the thirty minutes

over the curves

and down and out

of the valleys

I know they have no names

they need none

the simply exist

so stunning against the sky

and that they will be there

as long as a forever on earth

can possibly last

until the sun explodes

or until we make a false sun

of our planet with our bombs

the mountains remain nameless

catching clouds

like long hands reaching up

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