Menstruation

If on my dignity
my religion makes war
the patriarchy makes war
unseen but heard
crowds make war

i fight them all

i alone am sufficient
to take them all, at once

and what do i do if
on my dignity
my mother makes war

and the crowds will tell me
it is women who are women's
own worst enemy

i will turn to them and shout
but patriarchy makes fools
of women, all the time
no, she isn't my enemy
she is doing
what she thinks
is best for me

i will say she too
is a product of the patriarchy
she only tells me
what she learnt
what she holds sacred

and thus in one stroke
i will undermine
her entire personhood
her lifelong agency