rhymes and carbohydrates

sticky rice fingers, i was starting to feel faint from the loss of blood
and so much apple juice
and breakfast toast so long ago

i donated blood today and learned my every day something
because of body piercings within the last year, they only use plasma
not whole blood
and i just wish someone had told me before
because then i would have been donating plasma every six weeks
instead of whole blood every ten weeks
and they would have been getting 600 ml of plasma
instead of 470 ml of whole blood from which they then extract plasma
and throw the rest away
bye bye red blood cells

my haemoglobin count was lower than last time
but my blood pressure is good
and nurses at blood donation centres are always so very nice
and now i am thinking about also donating platelets
(which takes two hours and can i really drink 1.5 litres and hold it for two hours?)

so in six weeks i will go back to donate plasma
i am so interested to see the machine
it takes blood and then removes the plasma
and then gives your blood back to you
and then continues in a cycle until it gets about 600 ml of plasma
and you also get anti-clotting agents through a drip
but it only takes about 45 minutes
yes, i am so interested

i like being able to help people without effort
i just lie there and drink free apple juice
and the people are so nice
and they thank you
and i am embarrassed because they don't know
that i really like donating
and i would do it even if i didn't get free juice
and got dizzy every time