Awake in bed while others sleep, I
Bless you others who remain awake:
Clerk, behind glass 'til dawn for my convenience;
DVMs who nursed my dog through his worst night;
EMTs who kept me talking in the dark while
Firefighters sliced my car apart;
Ghanaian on night shift alone among towers of tires, and
Hero who towed my wreck through a chilly drizzle --
I'd had coffee and dessert at the end of my day
Just as, saving me, you both had started yours;
Kid who slept on the tile of an empty diner, who
Leapt up, straightening his apron to make my omelet;
Mom's attendants hoisting her back into bed while the
Nurse with her honeyed accent phoned, "She's all right";
Operator, who sighed before sunrise and dispatched a
Plumber to stanch the gusher in my lawn;
Quellers of cranks like me in the ER at midnight;
Railroad engines' whistles faint through the window,
Sirens' wails,
Trucks' rattles and growls -- sounds of you
Urgent drivers hurtling miles away while I lie idly
Venerating alphabetically you
Who work or watch or weep this night:
Exemplars of service: by my memories
You all bless me with another gift -- of
Z Z Z
← | index | →
A favorite warm-up for my seventh grade drama students was to improvise lines of dialogue in alphabetical order. My turn. The same idea forms nine of the Psalms and much other Hebrew poetry.
The story behind two of the late-night heroes on this list is told in the essay Those Who Work or Watch This Night (01/2020) on my personal blog The Word Sanctuary.- WSS
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