Loneliness of The Blood

 25 October 2025

Dear Diary,

I always get a little teary on the way to the bloodbank

Kindness, great snacks and staff who look you right in the eye and listen will do that.

Red as a cardinal's cassock, blood leaves me.

One time I gave platletts.

    Felt woozy.

    Insisted I was fine.

    The nurse knew I wasn't.

    They are face whispers.

    Stay she'd said.

And so I did.

    Nurses cared about me.

I cried,

a quiet cry.

Then marvelled at the selection of snacks on offer. 

I make a morning of it now.

    Mitigating loneliness

            One 

            Drop 

            At a time.

On the way to the blood bank this morning 

At the intersection

A woman I once knew 

Passed me in her car

    We were friends.

Every day I wake up thinking

    How is this possible that we are no longer friends..

    Middle East, North, West & South

Ruby, Scarlett, Crimson, Vermillion

Blood flows red as a cardinal's cassock

    Into rivers and seas.

I pause at the traffic light

Wanting to ASK

I am on my way to the blood bank

If you needed blood

Would you ASK who donated this?

Because I know that we are a match.