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

Raiot

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Lucille Clifton Written by:

Lucille Clifton was born in Depew, New York, on June 27, 1936. Her first book of poems, Good Times (Random House, 1969), was rated one of the best books of the year by the New York Times. Clifton remained employed in state and federal government positions until 1971, when she became a writer in residence at Coppin State College in Baltimore, Maryland, where she completed two collections: Good News About the Earth (Random House, 1972) and An Ordinary Woman (Random House, 1974). She was the author of several other collections of poetry, including Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988–2000 (BOA Editions, 2000), which won the National Book Award; Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980 (BOA Editions, 1987), which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize; and Two-Headed Woman (University of Massachusetts Press, 1980), also a Pulitzer Prize nominee as well as the recipient of the University of Massachusetts Press Juniper Prize. Clifton was also the author of Generations: A Memoir (Random House, 1976) and more than sixteen books for children, written expressly for an African-American audience. After a long battle with cancer, Lucille Clifton died on February 13, 2010, at the age of seventy-three.

2 Comments

  1. Naaz
    March 8, 2017
    Reply

    A beautiful poem depicting the essence of womanhood..

  2. March 8, 2017
    Reply

    A beautiful Poem portraying the womanhood. Let’s respect them all so that our mother eve will get pleased in the heavens.

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