mensyilic

The men will soon know

I am dangerous.

The moon bleeds through my womb

Onto my cotton dress,

White like a seagull, 

Bird of rituals and sacrifices.

What if these clots

Turn into a hoard of insects or snakes

Stinging my people?

My mother taught me menstruation,

mensyilic, 

Derives from the word ilah 

Which also means:

To see.

I have almost completed 

My journey to womanhood;

I am beginning to understand love and hate

And power, derived from fear;

I yearn for it.

Come, take this string of shells from my waist,

Placed in childhood 

To mark my innocence.

Paola Carrasco, originally from Ecuador, lives in the Rio Grande Valley by the Mexico/US border. She draws inspiration from the population that lives in the border, their struggles and cosmovision as well as the indigenous mythology of the area.