I bring one of my poetry books

to the man

who makes the trucks go

without whom these mountains

would be uninhabited

and he tells me when I call

with questions about my f150

that he reads my work

with his morning coffee

before heading to the shop

and I realize I’m doing

what I set out to do

something I can be proud of

maybe there’s no bestseller list

or a million sales of my book

or even a thousand

maybe the academy

doesn’t want me around

maybe I’m working

as a carpenter and a miller

and am not on a world book tour

but if those who work

the real and the grounded

read what I have written

then I am succeeding

so I’ll keep on working

with my hands for hourly pay

and writing my poems

in the hours after

between split logs and beers

as the alpine sunset

sits above me

like so many broken bottles

of homemade strawberry wine

my back and shoulder sore

but my heart at home happy

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