Some words for the week

sawdust like bloodstains

remnants of ruin

remands of ravage

only remnants remain

there is a new pipeline

going in

it follows the road

so does the forest

and so the trees must be

fell

hundreds are marked

with neon paint

along their bark

waving slightly in a thin

breeze

as if there is no coming end

but there always is more to

cut

pipeline and pull offs

and parking lots and power

lines

and new houses

as long as there are pines

we will cut them down

they seem to be endless

how they stretch to the

horizon

but they are numbered

everything but us is

in time all we will have left

of the woods

are those spindled graves

at almost ground level

too deep to pull out easily

left as markers

of all the wilderness

we whittled into

wind blown hills

of house lights

and highways

Alexander Shalom Joseph is a writer from Gilpin County. He is a published author. For more information and to subscribe to Alexander’s Newsletter go to alexandershalomjoseph.com