Mexican Blood Plasma

Turning back to humanity
For a moment, as if you had
Chosen it—like Eckhart Tolle,

That Clive Wearing of all gurus,
Choosing just the present moment—
Consider the blood in your head.

You made it yourself? Good for you.
Did you know—in America
You can give plasma twice a week,

Far more than legally allowed
In much of the rest of the world?
You, too, can be a factory.

For this reason, America
Supplies about sixty percent
Of the plasma available

For swap among humanity.
But that’s a little misleading.
Mexicans with visas can cross

Into the States for short-term stays
To give up plasma for some cash,
A big chunk of the US haul,

Eleven percent, in fact, which
Means roughly a fifteenth of all
The plasma that’s circulating

From human bodies to human
Bodies came from Mexico.
The comparison media

Favor for this sort of stat notes
That the country of Mexico
Is home to under two percent

Of the world’s whole population,
So it’s punching above its weight
By providing near six percent

Of the world’s medical plasma,
Some of which might have been transferred
To you in your last surgery.

But that’s slightly misleading, too,
Since only a few Mexicans
In reach of the US border

And in possession of visas
Provide all of that plasma.
Which stat now seems aptest to you?

Choosing just the present moment,
Consider the thoughts in your head.
You thought them yourself? Good for you.