Compassionate Leave

A painful shift held together with smiles,
Ones that make your face ache
And your hands shake,
While you’re taking orders.

Awkward conversations with a manager,
Or a friend,
About the incident
Which stole you.

How do you end that sentence
Still smiling?

Closing with
An aching back,
Broken shoes,
And a pair of empty eyes
That stare.

But leaving the building I can finally crouch in the street
And remember you,
Ache for you,
Break for you,

And no longer smile.