Michael VanCalbergh
Third Shift Morning
This is the morning
of two Advil and three coffees. This
is the morning of barely.
Morning of sharp breaths,
of no speaking. The morning
of four minute showers, the same
clothes, the mirror writing, “This
isn’t what you want.”
Morning of empty highways.
This morning of what used to be
late. The morning of chills and street light.
This is always the morning.
Michael VanCalbergh currently lives and works in Normal, IL. When not playing tic-tac-toe with his daughter, he teaches at Illinois State University and organizes comics for a local comic book store. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming from, Spoon River Poetry Review, Tinderbox, Gingerbread House, Apex Magazine, and others. You can find him at @MVCpoet on Twitter.