by Ruth S. Baker

“Crab blood to remain big pharma’s standard as industry group rejects substitute”
—The Guardian

The best type of lab blood
Is known to be crab blood:
No substitute liquor will do.
What makes it so proper?
Primarily copper,
The source of its elegant hue.

The tests all confirm it:
The blood of the Hermit
Will clot near a drug that’s impure;
Thus Pharma’s equations
Depend on crustaceans—
Employed under contract, I’m sure.