the flight of the grasshopper

A weekly poem by Alexander Shalom Joseph

Good Morning,

Without much ado, here is a poem for today.

I think about death

as I stand on the roof of my house

using a pole saw to trim branches

off a tree in the backyard

the insurance company

said we had to cut the tree down

but I settled for removing

the branches that overhang the roof

and could maybe break in high winds

hopefully this is enough

how quick they are

to kill a thing

that has lived longer

than most humans alive

I think about death

as I trim the branches of the tree

from the roof

I think how a bad foot placement

a misjudged cut

could result in me

falling off the roof

or something falling on me

in an instant

I could be dead

in an instant any of us could be

I think about dying

as I cut away parts

of another living thing

and then I see a grasshopper

jump the height of the house

off the grass

into the October air

and then land again

onto the ground

what a soaring motion that was

what a thing

to fly for a little while

what a thing

to land back into the earth

from where we all came

Thank you,

If you like this, check out my forthcoming book The Clearing, available for preorder here. This book has lots of scenes about nature and beauty and living and death in it too.

Alexander