Three Days

Working 3 days in a row is tough (for me), here in my 6th decade of life,
4th decade in healthcare..............being on the feet, probably 11 out of the 12 hour shift.

Three day stretches?
Sure, I can do it,
However. by that 3rd day
I'm all damn it and screw it,
Because I am older
And beat to a pulp,
Way beyond
Just one big gulp.

I don't know
A single elder,
Who doesn't feel
Like a journeyman welder,
Flaming the trenches
Of Nursing, today,
We have all paid our dues
In the usual way.

So, why do I do
Three day stretches?
It provides exciting fodder
For my poetic etches,
Because, that's what I do
In the hours soon after,
When I hang by my toes
With the bats in the rafter.