Blood manoeuvres

slides, lured,
             artery pumps
misdirection, sucked up the
needle
             slipped under
with a prick
smaller than a blackfly bite,
bruise to blacken
on the withdrawal

brighter the light the dead go pushing,
vein rising, the ribbon unfurling
a part of me,
                             leaving me

there's more, says the nurse, so I lie
still,             hush of the hospital
circling me
like the kill, like
the prey,
                             like the waiting
							 
not dead, not yet,         I
focus on the nearest thing:
stain on the curtain,
sound of frantic breath:

oh.
mine.