A year means so much

and absolutely nothing at all

I can hold my breath

for just over a minute

and in what seems

the same time

another one I loved has left

and in another flare

of strained lungs and wide eyes

I am all giggles and gold

and then another

and I am alone again

and a quarter of my life at best

is already gone

and I make dinner for one

and try to feel

the space between

how the air seems to glow

how the sun seems solid

how when I sleep

I lay diagonally across the bed

all in that breath’s space

before another great fire

of eyes and smiles and lies

Alexander Joseph is a writer, creative writing teacher, and host of the podcast American Wasteland. He is from and lives in Rollinsville and in “some words for the week”, Alexander shares a small poetic dispatch about life in the mountains, love, nature, bath taking, and so many other small moments from his every day. He hopes that his words here can offer a respite from the moment, a tiny escape into another world of feeling and sight and smell and taste and sound, a sense engagement that you can bring with you into the rest of your week, a deep breath before going forward.