By Kwesi BISSUE
Labour pains ran all over her anatomy
Lowering from her upper, down her lower abdomen
Announcing her place among fertile women
Her labour noise travelled along the lobby
Registering her voice around the ward of maternity
Calling her nurse to attend to a delivery
So her nurse hurried to calm her noise
Calming her not to make labour noise worse
Her vital stats taken stated a healthy status
But her blood count could not be counted upwards
So her nurse made a dash to consult her supervisor
She returned with an order from her superior
To seek another’s blood to transfuse
Before birthing could be granted a safe berthing
But a quick glance at the blood bank got her confused
For there was no matching blood to use
Her husband was the first to offer blood to donate
But hardly did his blood grouping prove a duplicate
Many others lined up for a pint to donate
But hardly could any offer up compatible blood to donate
So a search team was sent around
Uptown and downtown
For that rare blood grouping to donate a pint
One they brought from town
One who was a gentleman of no mean repute
A fact no one would dispute
No infectious disease could anyone impute…to his blood
No debilitating defects could the routine tests detect…in his blood
Husband and wife and family had reason to jubilate
To shower tons of praises on the generous donor
Therfore, a bouncy baby was added to the family number
II
Many years passed
Many years passed for daily signs to turn into symptoms
For symptoms to tell their own story
For mother and child
It was a stern warning issued each morning
For mother and child
It gave them a serious cause for worrying
Each morning was a wakeup call to welcome a chain of malaise
A back pain, or a neck pain
A headache, or a stomachache
A bout of malaria, or a round of nausea
A pound of diarrhoea, or a mound of pneumonia
Each symptom served a reminder to visit a lab
For a thorough body test
Each body test
Recommended an advanced test
Many tests crossed paths for diagnosis to tell the real story
For prognosis to paint a medical history
A history filled with the story of a transfusion of blood
Years ago when a blood donor of repute
Dispensed blood full of of impurities…without knowing
Years ago when a routine test recommended infected blood…without knowing
III
Rife but reliable rumours from the grapevine had it all
And all heard it all
That the donor they pulled from town
Pulled many years ago
That donor of no mean repute
That donor was now a patient in the Intensive Care Unit.
That donor was wasting away in the Isolation Unit
And his Human Immunodeficiency Virus credentials
Were absolutely not in dispute
Where he had been sentenced by Acqured Immune Deficiency Syndrome
…a death symptom!
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