"Coming Off the Nightshift" by DS Maolalai

Coming Off the Nightshift

sky all grey
and the city grey
like two sides
of a silvery coin
grubby from use
buying coffees.

and I walk out,
buy a coffee
and top up my bus card
in a corner shop,
somewhere around 7
a.m. my head is cloudy
and dawn

turning slowly
toward morning —
sun breaking clouds
like mushrooms
on a wet lawn.

I am coming off
night shift — tired
as everyone
is tired. dazed
like everybody
dazed. somewhere
my wife is making breakfast. I bet
that she's yawning
too. when I get home
she'll be at work
and I'll be eating
something.

behind me the hospital
lies like a pile of pennies.
I get the bus
with nurses.
we don't talk,
drink coffee.

DS Maolalai

DS Maolalai has been nominated four times for Best of the Net and three times for the Pushcart Prize. His poetry has been released in two collections, Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden (Encircle Press, 2016) and Sad Havoc Among the Birds (Turas Press, 2019).

Headshot: Jack Baker

Photo Credit: Grey Pulliam