the pine beetle dies
only when the temperature drops
below zero for two weeks
but it hasn’t gotten this cold
in decades, so each year
there are more orange pines
how much longer
will the forests stand
how many more snowless winters
of warmth and wind
will it take until
the wells dry up
until the west dries up
and blows away
an old man told me
all the springs he knew
as a young man are gone
and now he is gone
and sometimes I think
he is lucky
because he doesn’t have to watch
all the pines die
all the rivers turn to trickles
all the subdevelopments go in
this morning
the mountains are bare
things I thought would never melt
could never melt
when I was growing up
that like of glacial glow
there on the horizon’s tip
have melted into
for seven states worth
of washing machines
and car washes
and sprinklers
and long showers
how much longer do we have here
and where can we go
when the time is up
when all that can survive
are the pine beetles
and the tumbleweeds
in the swirl of fire smoke
and dry dirt?
I love Colorado
I don’t want it to die
and if it does
where can we go
where will we land
like so many winged things
cast out from our pine bark homes
where else will we infect
where else can we find
such mountains as these
so sharp and blue this morning
standing still as all else falls

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.