Share this page :
Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 - February 13, 2010 / Baltimore, Maryland)
Poems by Lucille Clifton : 18 / 34
Poem in praise of menstruation
if there is a river
more beautiful than this
bright as the blood
red edge of the moon if
there is a river
more faithful than this
returning each month
to the same delta if there
is a river
braver than this
coming and coming in a surge
of passion, of pain if there is
a river
more ancient than this
daughter of eve
mother of cain and of abel if there is in
the universe such a river if
there is some where water
more powerful than this wild
water
pray that it flows also
through animals
beautiful and faithful and ancient
and female and brave
Lucille Clifton
Submitted: Friday, January 03, 2003
Read poems about / on: river, daughter, beautiful, passion, water, moon, mother, red, pain, poem, animal
Poems by Lucille Clifton : 18 / 34
People who read Lucille Clifton also read
Top 500 Poems
-
Phenomenal Woman
Maya Angelou
-
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
-
Still I Rise
Maya Angelou
-
If You Forget Me
Pablo Neruda
-
Dreams
Langston Hughes
-
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
-
If
Rudyard Kipling
-
A Dream Within A Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
-
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
-
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
I love your poetry ms. Clifton, however my wife used to have a problem with fibroids, which made her monthly cycle into a sunami, she might not agree with the premise.
Love the lyricism in this poem - it's a great one to recite. Erhard, you don't get it: women are strong because of/ inspite of our bodies. Menstruation doesn't hold anyone back - except a few men with hangups.
Stark imagery, indeed, in this poem of yours. If not for menstruation, women might well accrue such tremendous powers that could overpower the biggest macho of a male.