Late Shift + The swallows come

By Thomas R. Thomas

Exhausted from working the late shift
at Union Bank in downtown LA,
Barbara Jean lies down on the couch.

Watching Tommy sitting on the floor –
lost in his own world playing with
the same toy for hours.

Opening her eyes – Tommy is gone.
Frantically, Barbara searches the
neighborhood, finding him watching the
Mickey Mouse Club with one of his girlfriends.

Forty years later and she still
feels the same guilt as she
looks into Tommy’s eyes –
no longer lost.

***

the swallows come on
our birthday – in small bunches
at first — to scope it out

as if they would not be welcome
I sit alone — long for you

Both appear in his book Five Lines on World Parade Books