THE TRUTH IN HER BLOOD

They taught her to hide it.                                                                                 Be clean, contained, scentless.

As if her blood were a flaw —                                                                        kept invisible

When she bled,                                                                                                 she did not feel                                                                                       powerful.                                                                                                      fertile.                                                                                                         woman. 

Alone in a white tiled room.  

Blood on her hands.                                                                                    Warm.                                                                                                              Red.                                                                                                                Alive.

Her blood was named weakness.

___________

Then she remembered. 

She remembered, 
she doesn’t give a fuck. 

Her blood is ancient. 
Her body creates life. 

This sacred throne between her hips
she is alive.