Image: Blurred Night-time Truckers (here)
What is alive what is dead
It is the 2 am dread
Most are asleep
under warm sheets
But the homeless
Snug under cardboard boxes
Without a care in the world
For as their life twirl
With no change for the better
Not affecting their slumber
Some sectors of activity though
Take it as the start of their show
Airlines and airport workers
Emergency doctors and nurses
Janitors and graveyard-shift workers
Even long distance truckers
All within the cross-hairs of union leaders
Who are much concerned of their welfare
For which they are fully aware
Targeted for adequate compensation
For the unearthly work-hours' inconvenience
So it is that such a bother
2 am certainly is no laughing matter!
For Anthony's hosting at d'Verse Insta-Poetics
I have been in the ER at that time of morning, and it can be a nut house. There are def pockets of the city I would not want to be in at 2 AM. I have been a worker at that time too. It is quiet. Most of the bosses at home in bed.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess there are all sorts of things going on, which some of us never even think about.
ReplyDelete2 am is not a time to be near anything that is crazy. Here there are a few spots you avoid or you may get shot lol
ReplyDeletedifferent places have their own circadian rhythm - awake and vibrant in the night
ReplyDeleteSome cities don't get started until 2 am
ReplyDeleteIt must be awful to be toatally homeless, your poem show what many people don't realise. Great issue.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Nice inclusion of the nightshifters. Perhaps we tend to forget or discount them, knowing we must rise as they slumber. My limited graveyard shifting as a youth were always arduous. But 2 am was not the wall, 3:30am was.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, many places, it's no laughing matter at all.
ReplyDelete"What is alive what is dead-" I love that opening! I've been in the ER at that time. At one moment it's quiet and then next chaos breaks loose.
ReplyDeleteYes, for some people being out and about at 2 a.m. is the norm. I think people get used to this kind of schedule after a while.
ReplyDeleteTo work those night-shifts,,, I could not really do it, the closest I ever been has been when working when on a jet-lag,, then all things can happen.
ReplyDeleteAh.. yes.. for some 2am is darkness.. for some it is light.. for some it is work.. and for some it is play.. for some it is the termination of an electric chair life.. for others.. it is a cue.. for sensual delight.. ah.. 2am is certainly a metaphor
ReplyDeletefor
life..:)
yes... ugh, I have been in emergency rooms after 2am and it is hell... some places are certainly worse at 2am
ReplyDeleteyou've really captivated 2 am well Hank...
ReplyDeletehere's to the truckers, nurses, you named them well - who despite the time, do the work they have to do..much of it as a service, but it's labor and should be rewarded...as for the homeless, I imagine 2:00 am is just a bit cooler than noon in the summer and horrid in the winter.
ReplyDeleteThe crazies always seem to wanna come out at night... Truth.
ReplyDelete