Menstruation Poem by lalitha iyer

I am bleeding
yes my heart
my holes
my eyes
and if i dont bleed
what sex will i be in lead?
if i dont bleed
my heart with no compassion
what human am I?
if i dontr bleed
my eyes never red with grief
what soul am I?
I bleed
to create
my son
the universe
the motherhoods
they bleed to infants bring
it is in the blood
it is in the red
is it in the blood
is it in the red
or is it in the pain
creation-all soiled with blood
and blood the look of it
all reddy, vomitting from the womb
with no warning signs
just as it pleases
the ocean of blood
little by little to bring an infant
it clots into a cloth bag
to softly massage the spermovamed spot
inch by inch to snowball it
into limbs and head and heart
and lungs and eyes and nose
the names so called
oh the periods
the hell in the stomachs
the pain in the puberty
agony of a mother
the sorrow of a shelterless woman
the tragedy of divine births
we bleed to create
we create in blood
mammals we mammals
we white blooded suckle
and red blooded pickle
in pain, in blood all life
all births constrained to knife.