02Burnplate no.1

3rd Shift

I cant sleep.

  • at night.
    • like a normal person
  • i have never been able to

because of this
i’ve lost many Mcjobs
every so often id take a graveyard job in attempt to counter this
let me just say,…
I LOVE graveyard shifts
which if you’ve ever worked a graveyard shift anywhere
you know what they can be like
especially if you get to work them by yourself

in 98 or 99
I was working nights at a gas station from 11pm to 7am
shielded behind two inches of plexiglass
talking to my friends
the ones still awake at two or three
through a circular vent in the plexiglass wall
and
then they’d leave to sleep
while I got to kept drinking coffee

there is a calmness
that creeps in and solidifies between the hours of 3 and 4
its lovely

the darkside of working a graveyard shifts
over time (could be months - weeks) regardless of how social you try to be
you start feeling disconnected
your whole life becomes sheilded behind two inches of plexiglass
where you sit
head against it
drawing pictures in the fog from your breath
bored
drained
it follows you home
it clings to you
it becomes a suit of plastic armor

there were words to this song
appearing one line per pattern as they played through

its well after
two am
the plexiglass
dividing
me from the rest
of the world
is fogged over
with the stale
lifeless residue
that calls at
this hour
leaving grease
prints behind.
the parking lot
empty. except
for the wind
blowing the
trash back
out onto the
streets again