Happy National Poetry Month! In a last ditch effort, before April, also known as National Poetry Month (www.poets.org) is over, I have penned a poem that has some relevance to menstruation, though barely. Maybe not surprisingly, menstruation has inspired many people to poetry, Sandra Cisneros and Lucielle Clifton among them. The website for the Museum of Menstruation, www.mum.org, has a category for poetry, with many other bleeding-inspired works. Perhaps poetic inspiration will strike you!

Wait ‘Til Jordy Hears This
by Michelle A.L. Singer

My email address differs from
Jordy Singer’s
By two numbers,
9 and 8.
If anyone forgets to add 9 and 8
To jmsinger,
The message goes to Jordy
And he or she
I don’t know which
Never asked
Kindly
Forwards them to me.

When we lived in China
And established our first ever email account
There was plenty of confusion
About email addresses
And Jordy came into play quite often.

When I didn’t get my period for three months
We’re pretty sure Jordy got an earful
Of the ensuing drama.
It turns out that I wasn’t pregnant
And that it sometimes happens
When you live abroad-
Your cycle stops
As if to see what’s going to happen next.

Ten years later, we’ve both
Kept the same email addresses
(Unheard of)
Though my physical address
Has changed eight times
And who knows how many for Jordy.

Ten years
And the other day
He (or she)
Still not sure
Still haven’t asked
Forwarded a wayward message my way.

Ten years,
And I’m late
Waiting to see if I’m pregnant
Again.

P.S. I’m not. Two days after writing this, I got my period. Even though I had taken two pregnancy tests that showed negative, nothing is the final word like bleeding. At times like these when technically I should be wishing not to bleed, I can’t help but still enjoy getting my GladRags out. Somehow they still seem fun to me.

-Michelle