driving to the hardware store
I see the southernmost
city limit sign
torn off its poles
and sitting sideways
in the dirty roadside snow
today it’s forecasted
that there could be 100 mph winds
and it feels like that at least
as I drive past the Sundance
the trees give way
to a straight on view of the peaks
an unsheltered stretch of road
which shakes the windows
snaps my side view mirror
shears the bolts
off the city limits sign
it’s perfect really
this wind
this rushing air
for on days like this
it reminds us
there are some things
we cannot control
it doesn’t care
about our plans
about our city boundaries
it merely exists
it merely rips off roofs
it merely makes trees sway
it merely makes us small
and shirking
it is a privilege
to be reminded sometimes
that we are small
it is a privilege
to be reminds that
we have no control
because we don’t
not of the wind
not of anything else
but certainly
not of the wind

Alexander Shalom Joseph is an award-winning poet, writer and playwright from Gilpin County, and is the author of seven published books. You can find his work and more information about him at www.alexandershalomjoseph.com.