DENVER VOICE (LESS!)

by Jacob Richards

I feel low;

low down.

The little street paper 

that i wrote for is shutting down

Woe is me.

It wasn’t much

A story a month.

It didn’t pay enough, 

to even justify the rewrites

but stubbornly, 

and at a loss to me and my family,

I carved out time and brainpower;

I called and emailed;

developed sources

attended meetings!

The gig; the last link

to a dream

of being a paid writer.

No matter how little it paid.

It was never about the $$$

but telling a story.

I think I will miss calling city hall

with questions

and having them fear me,

most of all.

Without a paper,

Who am I even writing for?

Why did I go to college?

Then I saw on 9 News...

The unhouse vendors of The Voice.

A man with a beard:

“When they told me 

they were shutting down,

I stayed in bed for three days”

An older woman, with red hair

And thick glasses:

“This is the longest job I’ve ever held in my life--

to be honest.”

A black man in front of a mural:

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep this paper going.”

Perspective is everything.

Author’s Note: Please consider joining the growing effort to save The Denver Voice! Colorado's only street paper.  Donate — The Denver VOICE 

Jacob Richards is a writer, editor, activist, and wilderness guide in Western Colorado.

WARNING

by Jacob Richards

Dangerous air today
they say,
as if i could hold my breath
or turn back the industrial revolution.

Dangerous air today.
Forests burn all around us
old growth turned sunlight 
into sugars
a strange alchemy
now turning sugars into 
a carbon haze
and air quality alerts.

Dangerous air today.
An “I-told-you-so moment”
if only I could catch my breath.
Ed Abbey laughing–
he tried to warn us–
that we were falling and not flying.

Our fears lulled by PR firms 
and impossibly cheap plastic baubles.
“Please put your seat and tray into the full and upright positions.” 
Falling not flying.
Dangerous air today.
Red flag warning,
no burns,
red-eyes
impossible heat.

Dangerous air today. 
Can’t see the mountains–
might as well live in Kansas–
a long nothing.
Without mountains
how can one tell which way is north?
The cardinal directions
are all mashed potatoes–
featureless like a cartoon heaven–
a special kind of hell.

Dangerous air today.
People breath it in
and hate–
as if
that will clear the skies.

Jacob Richards is a writer, editor, activist, and wilderness guide in Western Colorado.