Mother

1.
mother
I am screaming blood
I wash my feet and wait
for the man who has eaten
my blood
and must be torn
to do what I do once a month
mother
bleed

god too is a man

but I have no memory
of this man's faces
I cannot conjure him
I have no powers
having squandered
those of childhood
I have no humility
and no patience

I have nothing
sturdy enough to walk on
and yes
I have been to the waters
but its voices
are not for ears
that have heard metaphors
for years

so now I come to you

you tell me nothing
no word
no touch
only that women bleed

you say nothinig about my love
possessing me eyes
like pinpoints of light
I see him in mirrors
but he is not real mother
to make me woman

2.
One daugher needed onions
and was given them by a man
who needed her father's land
she could not cry
and did with the onions
and was never the same again

you tore me open
when you were born
you took my husband's love
so you see
my truth is in another tongue
you will have to find your own

I can only give you life once