Blood Glory

Aunt Flo and cousin Red are here for a visit so we better get ready to ride the cotton pony and surf the crimson wave. It is that time of the month where I am ready to unleash the floodgates and bleed.

This poem asks you to pause – to menopause

Let’s analyze the history, symptoms and the main cause

Blood is a signifier of death and dying

The stigma is reinforced by patriarchy underlying

Not all women menstruate and not all menstruators are women

But it is my purpose and mission to find the hidden villain,

Different bodies have different stories.

But discussions of blood help bring blood glory,

This poem looks at the blood flow.

Disruptions, are what I seek to expose,

Our society’s perceptions of blood revolve around the phallus.

Leaking marks bodies and puts them on a lower status,

Menstruation is seen as an absence of a penis.

Ask yourself why is society so squeamish?

When an individual does not reproduce, that body is seen as useless.

Blood signifies a lack of production since it isn’t afoetus,

But what is wrong with no reproduction.

Differences are destroyed with this social construction,

We must reformulate what it means to bleed,

This is a prior question – we must let the body be freed.

Poet: Haley Alexandra

Haley is a student at the University of Southern California. She is a policy debater and speaks about menstruation in debate rounds to break the stigma surrounding it. She likes puns, buttons and clothing with cats on them. She is on Twitter at @Haley_Xandra
Editor: Divya Rosaline

ralph lauren outlet uk,ralph lauren italia shop,christian louboutin outlet,louis vuitton bags sale uk,ralph lauren polo