A Shift Worker In Winter Poem by Matthew Holloway

That morning commute
While all the world still sleeps
Through empty quiet streets
Except sometimes on weekends
When people are returning home
From the parties and the bars
Envious of the fact they are going to bed
In place of a factory shift
~
Winter brings with it
A near permanent state
You leave for work in the dark
And return home in the same darkness
Maybe catching a glimpse of daylight
On lunch breaks through windows
It's a job, pays the bills and mortgage
We can't all be nine to five
~
And we continue getting up early
Making that walk or drive
Through the usually deserted streets
With only artificial light
On that journey and the return home
Waiting for the working week to end
To lie in bed those extra few hours
Before walking the shop or the dog
In the almost forgotten glow
That daylight brings to us all