"Vampire Blues," Lyrics by Hans Ostrom

 "really, what is all this vamipirin' for?"

fast electric blues

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au-fBdcCSv4

Giving Blood

 "We use your blood for babies," says the nurse.

“Give them my best,” I say. She nearly smiles.

The opaque bag darkens shadow-red
with my corpuscular tithing. Blood's

darkness always surprises me, suggests how
blood wells up from mineral earth like lava.

The blood-room’s hushed, as if we lying
on padded tables were sacrificial goats

with slit throats and the strong nurses, priests.
A tall woman or short man who used to be

a baby will stroll in flowered Paris one
day, pulsing traces of my blood, which

is O-Negative and CMV-Negative. My heart
never thought to teach me what these words

and letters mean. Do vampires carry all
types of blood, and is that why they’re

so pale and mean and unproductive?
I mean, get out of the casket, Drac,

go to bloodoholic rehab, give back to
the community. Just don’t donate blood,

and stay the hell away from babies...
Finished, I'm offered a cookie and juice.

hans ostrom 2022