Apr 2019
Old self-knowledge, the old fear
of blood loss, beware
of predators
and dream of vampires
dream of witches
who drink the blood
of unborn children
who drink the blood
of their mothers
the sweet blood
that also feeds mosquito eggs
the blood that gives life
to all animals, a body
is a trunk full of blood
blue pale green
yellow pink and red
to catch or for sale at farms
breeding stations and speciality stores
the leeches with a crop
at the pharmacy, without a prescription
oh, ticks will wait a year
five years if it’s only then that you come
of blood loss, beware
of predators
and dream of vampires
dream of witches
who drink the blood
of unborn children
who drink the blood
of their mothers
the sweet blood
that also feeds mosquito eggs
the blood that gives life
to all animals, a body
is a trunk full of blood
blue pale green
yellow pink and red
to catch or for sale at farms
breeding stations and speciality stores
the leeches with a crop
at the pharmacy, without a prescription
oh, ticks will wait a year
five years if it’s only then that you come
Blood colours: blue (from hemocyanin, due to a copper core: molluscs [mollusc shell, snail, octopus] and anthropods [crab, centipede, lobster, scorpion, spider, insect]), pale (also with hemocyanin, colourless in a cold environment; Antarctic ice fish), green (from chlorocruorin; skink), pink (from hemerythrin; peanut worm, living in shallow water; priapulid worm, living in sludge; brachiopods), red (from hemoglobin), and mustard (from hemovanadin; sea squirt)
