A Date at the Hospital

They only get a babysitter
when she goes to the hospital,
to have a new baby, or when
her back goes out, or when he
had knee surgery last fall.
they call the neighbor who
comes over, her hair in rollers,
the old pink sponge rollers that
she can sleep in all night, in
between waking up to her
husband’s snoring.
They don’t believe in babysitters,
having read too many issues
of The National Enquirer about
psycho babysitters cooking small
children for dinner when they
were bad, and fearing such losses
birth several extra children,
which is when they have a date
together alone at the hospital,
enjoying their conversation
in between contractions and
checking on the children with
their neighbor in her pink sponge
rollers.