for ninety minutes
after coffee
raise them up
out of wet and dirty bedding
then take an allocation
to supervise and assist in the showers
or strip and remake the beds
until breakfast time
for workers and for patients
half staff on first meal-break
half on second
catch a lift
down the hill to home
thirty minutes
to get the kids up
into the shower
tidy their rooms
and some cereal before school
the hoot of a car horn
tells that it\'s time to go back
to clean the ward
again
until first lunch
~