No 1. Label your collar
to avoid feeling ornamental.
No 2. Don’t wipe away the blue blood,
even if it’s like a bookkeeper’s thumb.
No 3. Use cologne to hide.
Your shame emanates
like a freshly peeled orange.
(Some let their ink-nosebleeds drip
and stain. They gnaw on the rind of fruit
plucked elsewhere as detergent, or
for nutrition).
