the graveyard shift

a poem for my fellow web hosting tech support agents. i hope the general psyche will soon change...

The Graveyard Shift
by Cindy Sacramento

You lie in bed
tired from the love
you expressed
and the job you slaved
to survive.
The blanket covers
your thin feet
that step on the pathway
of self-destruction,
of forced contentment,
and lure of money.
You're eyes are dreary
from sleepless days
because the clouds
cannot shadow nature's light
and stop the clock
at midnight.
You curl to move your
restless body
into a dark side of the room
while you try
to close your eyes
and imagine the life that
you will forever
dream about.
You time your shift
to assure yourself of
a reward of your
breaking bones and body
as you scurry through the halls
of your second home.
And yet your happiness
can be seen at the
smiling faces of your children
when you buy their new clothes,
see them run around
your unattended house,
touch their full tummies
with your rough hands,
hear their healthy sighs
with your ringing ears,
and see your depraved soul
in their innocent eyes.
But another day returns
to haunt you of your yesterday.
Your home slowly becoming a stranger
as your family disappears
during the day and
creep back into the night
once you're gone
again...
and again...
and again....