The Night Shift

24/02/2021 – Poem a Day Compilation



I hate it when you work the night shift.

The bed feels empty without you.

I don’t sleep properly not having you near

Though I slept for years on my own.



The kids have had their dinner

And I wonder if you’ll eat at all tonight

Because 6pm might be meal time here

But it’s the beginning of work for you.



I sometimes wish it would rain

So the crims would stay at home.

They’re no different from the rest of us,

They don’t want to be out in a storm.



Life here is dictated by routine,

By 9pm the babies are tucked up in bed,

But I don’t know where you are

Or what you’re having to face.



While I’m cleaning up the house

You’re cleaning vomit out of your car

From the drunk you’ve had to haul in

For picking a fight with a guy twice his size.



It’s just gone midnight but I can’t close my eyes.

You’re only half way through your shift

And I should be sound asleep

But there’s a feeling in my gut that won’t let me.



I will worry about you ‘til you return

And I can hold you safe in my arms.

My dreams are haunted when you’re away

Then I wake feeling like I haven’t slept.



I look at the clock and it’s not quite 3am.

Here, it is quiet and quiet can be

But I know you’re in the thick of it

And I wish you weren’t.



They say it gets easier to handle

But I can’t see how that is.

You are my world, my everything,

And I’d die without you here.



The 6am alarm is going off

But I’m already awake.

I think about hitting snooze

But I’m not sure there’s any point.



The sun is starting to rise now.

I know you’ll be home soon

But this is the time I fear most

Because last call outs are the worst.



But I know you’re in the right place

And you’ll come back to me each time.

I’ll get some restful sleep one day,

I just don’t know when that will be.