O Positive

I did not want to know my blood type.

My mother had one of those highly sought blood types. The Red Cross would sometimes call when she was a little late for her donation. But she was rarely late; She had received someone else’s blood during an operation.

In some high school biology class, I had worked out that it was highly unlikely that I was anything but a standard O positive.

As long as I didn’t know there was always a small chance that I had special blood.

In the army, no one is special. They needed to know what to stamp on my dog tags.

Grand Siècle – Ninon de l’Enclos

Street Art, 44 rue des Tournelles, 4th Arrondissement, Paris, France

Ninon de l’Enclos by C215. Portraits du Grand Siècle du Marais.

Ninon de l’Enclos was a French author, courtesan and patron of the arts. She held her literary salons up the street at number 36.

September 18, 2019
44 rue des Tournelles,
4th Arrondissement,
Paris, France

Ninon De L’Enclos, On Her Last Birthday – Poem by Dorothy Parker

So let me have the rouge again,
And comb my hair the curly way.
The poor young men, the dear young men
They’ll all be here by noon today.
And I shall wear the blue, I think-
They beg to touch its rippled lace;
Or do they love me best in pink,
So sweetly flattering the face?

And are you sure my eyes are bright,
And is it true my cheek is clear?
Young what’s-his-name stayed half the night;
He vows to cut his throat, poor dear!

So bring my scarlet slippers, then,
And fetch the powder-puff to me.
The dear young men, the poor young men-
They think I’m only seventy!