All of Us Are Born in Blood

All of us are born in blood
but those born in the Abattoir
smell it every day – a 
reminder that our death 
is imminent and will be swift
and bloody
.
Elsewhere, childhood is different
bloodied only by scrapes and falls. Elsewhere
People are free of the smell of iron in their own hair
, sweat, clothes. They are 
free of the taste of it
.