“Some Words for the Week”

James Baldwin once said

before he died before I was born

that a society needs

the reports of the poets

more than any other report

the way we see the world

reflects the state of it

that without the poets

and our words and rhythm

a civilization will fall apart

and each week I write

a hundred short poems

and I choose one to send

to the newspaper for free

and last week the paper

was too full of political discourse

to have room for the poetry

to have room for a few lines

and a metaphor about the wind

the poets report was cut

for space to print ads

for the political candidates

one party who will do nothing

and another who will do

a worse sort of nothing

meanwhile the forests burn

or are cut to nothing

the rivers run dry

the heat intensifies

and I go to work all week

sweating for rich people

in big houses with bigger yards

and by the time I come home

the poets report

seems useless too

but I have to believe

it still matters

that taking a second

to notice the light

is worth something

and I hope you do to

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