I’m told the Rio Grande

has gone dry

before it gets to Albuquerque

the snow stops showing

on the mountains

long before you leave Colorado

further west in Utah

a river they once

thought would last forever

is lower than it’s ever been

and is projected to run dry

in the next five years

I guess I thought all rivers

would last forever

I guess I thought

the snow would always fall

I go to the creek by my house

and it’s lower than I’ve seen

I sit on a rock

that last year

was sunk in water

but is now hot in the sun

and watch the remnants

of the paltry snowfall rush by

towards sprinklers

towards car washes

towards running sinks

and I wonder how long

until the rivers I know go dry

I wonder how long

till rivers too

like buffalo

like snowcapped mountains

like winter

are mostly myth 

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 alexandershalomjoseph.com.