the night shift

I wasn't good at the night shift.

going to work
when everyone else was going
home.

what was I missing.
what thrills
of that age

would slip through my fingers.
what girl
would
my friends meet without me.

but I needed the money.
who couldn't

wash dishes,
set tables, mop floors

in a restaurant in the wee
hours of night
into morning?

it lasted one night.
then I threw my apron

covered in grease and ketchup,
the slop
of diners,

on the table, and said.
I quit after getting paid
in cash

for a nights work.