Workers - Hannah Gillespie

He came home drunk.

How was your day?

I can’t say. You won’t

remember;

does it matter?

Superficial, I did this, that,

whatever. We’ll try again tomorrow.

He came home drunk. But

not from alcohol.

There’s no liquor on his breath.

Still,

he’s absent, still. It’s the same.

Tired. Slurring

words

sliding, skipping, falling

asleep at the table.

Present, but

he’s absent, still.

Drunk

on work. Get it out,

get it out. Are you done?

Are you done? Are you done

yet?

Drunk but

there’s work, still.

Are you tired?

Of course. I feel your head

ache

in my brain. How can you think,

or even speak,

sliding, skipping, falling

out, down, around the block.

Don’t wait up for me.

Exhausted. Slurring

words, falling

asleep at the table.

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Hannah Gillespie is a writer and full-time engineer at Boeing in Seattle, WA. Her work has been featured in the Re:Visions journal and the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference at the University of Notre Dame.