Blood Work
(HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V, edited by Stephanie Wytovich. September 2018.)
It’s all in the blood,
you say, a crimson
trapped by the cells,
struggle of the female
kind, a pollution, left
to bear shame named
scarlet, its monthly
isolation cramped,
swollen with clotted
moments, a stain on
the sex you love to hate.
Keep it hidden,
you say, blue moons,
the pull of tides
bleeding, butchered,
paper promises, lined
plastic wrappings,
raw meat sanitized,
pressed, shaped,
remolded, served
at sunset, red flag
warnings bottled and corked.
Sterile, clean, hygienic,
you say, padding truth,
but we know better.
Tainted whore, witch
woman—accusations
sent to stop
the monthly flow,
cursed flower,
second sex seeded,
lineage acknowledged,
truth typed, drawn, transmitted
—a testament writ in blood.
