Every month, a woman sheds the lining of her uterus

Except, mine is scraping through me
like a sweater-rake that claws at those scratchy balls of wool
I’m shedding barbed wire and lava
Feeling red hot and deflated

Men laugh at a woman’s period
Think we’re over-exaggerating
Like that small-pinched-lie you’re told you’ll feel during a procedure

Why can’t we be honest about a woman’s pain

A woman feels pain as easy as a man succeeds
In this patriarchal society
Where a woman just bleeds
And bleeds
And bleeds

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If you’ve liked what you’ve read, check out my poetry book Walking in Cemeteries available for purchase here.