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Night Shift.

Submitted by Robert Melliard on Mon, 2014-06-30 17:45

I salute you night-shift workers
wherever you may be around this globe.
It must be hard to sleep next day,
through morning light and noise.

Some of you put up with a lot.
Taxi drivers for example,
patiently waiting your turn in the small hours,
only to have to deal with drunks
or drugged-up, dangerous men.

Or night staff in A and E, or para-medics,
or prostitutes ready 24 hours a day,
or bar-men or bouncers or police.
All of you have to be psychologists -
specialists in misfortune and aggression.

You have to listen to slurred mumblings
or shouts or insults or crudeness.
You may even be in danger.

Perhaps you're paid extra for those hours
but you must wonder if it's worth it.

Editing stage: 
Editing - rough draft

Comments

Ian.T

Tue, 2014-07-01 03:12

Ian.T's picture
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The theme is a good one and though the story may be true I seem to have it going into my think as a job description, not a poem, your, for example, is like a footnote to a statement, I hope you will bring in some depth to your stanzas.
Not sure what you are trying to do with these forms of verse, you should be able to put more into these pieces they are two dimensional,
Yours Ian.T

.
There are a million reasons to believe in yourself,
So find more reasons to believe in others..

Robert Melliard

Tue, 2014-07-01 08:20

Robert Melliard's picture

As to what I'm trying to do with these forms of verse I think one problem is that I'm dealing with rather prosaic subjects, but good ones, as you say, things which need to be talked about, social problems, economic problems or whatever. I find it hard to wax lyrical when discussing the crude realities of working at night. But I still think line-breaks make this better than pure prose, though not as good as pure poetry.
Best wishes,
Robert.

author comment

lovedly

Wed, 2014-07-02 07:46

lovedly's picture

I as Loved...
have never ever read you
but this prosaic is striking too

read some verses even few
of mine as loved and now lovedly anew

your prosaic is wonderfully true
strike out what you want to
a poets job is to express his views
and leave the rest to who

so ever who

we all have our own view

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