All of Us Are Born in Blood

All of us are born in blood

but those born in the Abattoir

smell it every day – a 

reminder that our death 

is imminent and will be swift

and bloody

.

Elsewhere, childhood is different

bloodied only by scrapes and falls. Elsewhere

People are free of the smell of iron in their own hair

, sweat, clothes. They are 

free of the taste of it

.