Night Shift

What light there is can barely hold for some.
You see there is some small emergency.
But what will you decide when night has come?

A torch to light the way till days succumb
to all the dark that waits for you and me?
What light there is can barely hold, for some

already feel the isolation numb
their sense. ‘Some higher power will decree.’
But what will? You decide when night has come

to speak when many wrote you off as dumb.
The words come fast as light, since you agree
what light there is can barely hold for some.

The water rises quickly. Fetch the rum.
There is a way to solve the quandary
but what? Will you? Decide when night has come

to purge yourself and all that you’ve become.
You say you have a plan because you see
what light there is can barely hold for some.
But what? Will you decide, when night has come?

This poem © Oliver Tearle 2025.