LENA ALYAAN

author ~ poet ~ comic artist

 

Ramadan Periods

It's Ramadan so no one is eating
But here I am in the kitchen sneaking
It's that time of month so no fasting for me,
So I snack in the closets where no one can see,

And sometimes I eat, and oops, I get caught,
I drop the food and say “oh, I forgot”
I can’t tell the truth, so being a liar is best.
It’s better than being a woman, I guess.

 

So I hide from brothers, my uncles, my dad,
As if I’m as dirty as a blood-soaked pad,
And if I happen to eat and they happen to see,
Oh how ashamed and embarrassed I’d be,
To know that they know I’m bleeding down there,
Impure and unholy, and unfit for prayer.

 

Somehow, we’re conditioned to feel that way,
Like periods make us foul and not okay.
But we need unlearn that, let ourselves be,
They’re the God-given way of our bodies you see,
We’re not dirty or sinful, unholy or crude,
Not fasting or praying is our worship too.
So by eating I’m following a holy decree,
I don’t care if men question my decency.
I don’t care if it peeves them, I’m not gonna hide,
I’m eating and drinking like God prescribed.