Night Shift Remembers Sunrise
I awoke to an inquisitorial incandescence
flooding my apartment in the first hours
of a Saturday morning;
earliest I’ve been up on a weekend
in quite a long time.
I thought Damn!
Fell asleep with the kitchen light on,
so I dragged my groggy ass out of bed
to go flip the switch,
save some electricity.
But what I found were inert, greyed-out bulbs
and a window made celestial
by the sun rising gold.
Guess I’d forgotten what that looked like,
so I set up a chair and awestruckedly stared outside.
12 thoughts on "Night Shift Remembers Sunrise"
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I worked nights for a couple of years. I got off right as the sun was rising. It was glorious to see every morning, glad you didn’t miss this one!
Me too!
Good example of finding beauty in the mundane!
It really was such a simple moment and I’m glad for that. I struggle with writing simply. Thank you for the comment.
I like the straightforwardness and concision of this poem. You say what you mean and wrap it up quick. One quibble: your title gives away the ending.
Yeah… So this was originally the beginning section of a larger poem that was going to touch on some other emotional beats, and that title made more sense then. But at the last minute, I decided I didn’t really want to go with the larger poem (it needed more work and I’d been awake over twenty-four hours) so I only posted this part. Just never the thought to rework the title in favor of finally getting some sleep.
One of those experiences you have to indulge. Well done.
I might have to set my alarms for this coming Saturday!
love that last line Philip.
I spent so much time on that line because I didn’t like the word stare. Making up ‘awestruckedly’ (far as I can tell) made me feel a lot better. Thank you for the comment!
Sometimes the mundane moments are the best! Great poem!
Good to see you seeing the light amid the darkness of the year 💙