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The Night Shift

Don’t know that I ever looked forward to sunrise— days just seem to come and go, like desert flowers and dust-devils, tumbleweeds ripped from their arid rest: safe in my shared crevice with other baked eyes I watch the spiraling tails trying to escape the heat (a monolithic trance) snakes, scorpions and myself we keep an armistice not to hunt one another till walking, slithering, crawling, back into the night….

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Connie Marcum Wong

Date: 1/11/2020 12:12:00 PM

I have never been bitten by a scorpion but I have been bitten by a centipede and stung by jellyfish. Both are really painful so I can imagine. My daughter was with me and got stung by jellyfish too. She screamed and cried all the way home. She was about 8. There were no warnings posted. I could visualize the scene by your wonderful imagery Joe. New year blessing. xxoo (we have scorpions here too)

Joe Dimino
Date: 1/11/2020 2:47:00 PM

Hi Connie; everything in the desert bites. Comes with the territory I guess. Those Jelly Fish Stings and some centipedes can be real nasty injuries I understand. Thank you for stopping by. Have a beautiful day!!

Kai Michael Neumann

Date: 1/3/2020 4:31:00 AM

Happy New Year and too many shifts. Kind wishes, Kai

Joe Dimino
Date: 1/3/2020 5:02:00 AM

Hi Kal; wishing you less shifts and more wealth. Blessings my friend...and a very Happy New Year!

Lindsay Laurie

Date: 1/1/2020 5:14:00 PM

G'day Joe … be careful walking around barefooted at night. It's all about survival in a world of hunters and the hunted - nicely penned Joe - Lindsay

Joe Dimino
Date: 1/1/2020 9:05:00 PM

The one that got me, I picked up an old painting in a thrift store--must have come from someone's shed. Ouch!

Caren Krutsinger

Date: 12/31/2019 11:56:00 PM

I like this armistice Joe.

Joe Dimino
Date: 1/1/2020 11:04:00 AM

Thank you, Caren; for sure, peace is preferable in all situations. Having been bitten, scorpions hurt like hell, and leave the bite-area numb for about two weeks. But, a reasonably healthy person has no lasting ill effects. At least with the Arizona scorpions. Don't know about elsewhere...and don't really want to find out.

Silent One

Date: 12/26/2019 9:21:00 AM

damn, i used to do night shifts... we see a completely different world, dont we... glad i dont do it anymore..

Joe Dimino
Date: 12/26/2019 9:58:00 AM

"The Music of The Night"! I did it for many years, was the only agent on duty, at the airport, in a cargo facility. One does develop a darker, colder sense of life. But on the positive side, the acoustics were great for singing, a huge echo chamber in a sense, and no one there to tell me to shut up. Thank you, Si; wishing you and Yours a very Happy New Year!