Graveyard Shift. by Victor Clevenger

come home at eight in the morning     

stumble in     reggie is lying

in the doorway

half his body inside     

half is out

I ask if he had a rough night

he replies     it was a dream

he almost died     

wonders if I have ever felt

that i was coming close to death

I tell him     once or twice

remind him of the failed suicide attempt in 2002

he asks if I called out for god

in the moment that I thought

it was surely all over  

tell him “I didn’t”

he crawls the rest of the way inside

says he didn’t either

says he called out for his father

like a scared child

who needed firm comforting

assured him that I knew that feeling

that on occasions

I had expressed that feeling myself

he says he’s alive     

it doesn’t matter anymore

that he’s going back to sleep

i tell him     g’night     

sit down to take my boots off

kid’s mom walks down the hallway

asks who i’m talking to

& if i’m hungry

i’m not     

but i eat half a bagel anyway

When not traveling highways across America, Victor Clevenger spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights writing poetry.  Selected pieces of his work have appeared in print magazines and journals around the world, as well as at a variety of places online.  In 2017, Victor was nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology, as well as a Pushcart Prize.  His most recent published collections of poetry include a split book with Tom Farris titled Ginger Roots Are Best Taken Orally (EMP, 2018) and A Finger in the Hornets’ Nest (Red Flag Press, 2018).