April Poem-A-Day Challenge  Day 19

prompt: "burn"

Getting burnt out

It's a job that scars you
every time 
the boiling oils and fats 
reach out
for you
from the vats.

Working
the night shift
you can hide
the evidence
and insist
it's better
than nothing.

I must save
you mutter
before sleep and after
having counted
the scars
like accolades
or stepping stones
to the stars.