Oh-Neg

Leeching was done to draw out the bad blood.
And miraculously, we could be
drained nearly completely
while still
denying death
with the proper tools.

In precise implements like these;
pens and needles,
probe and penetrate
the surface, thus
it is most succinctly the human touch
that feels
a pulsing flow of ink
throbbing at the tips, and a
rush and steady flow
that gushes, drips and runs on
to remind
the patient
how to heal a hemorrhaging
or from a tainted transfusion of bad blood.




Image by Abraham Janssens [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.