i recognize the feeling
and know that
it comes
and goes
something with the moon
or perhaps, like it
my own cycle of
growing,
bearing,
and shedding
the rhythm
the blood-stained panties
the familiar ache in my abdomen
i asked myself last night,
where does suffering begin?
where does it end?
my neighbors yell and scream
in front of their children
so loud, the wall we share
quivers
and a few miles south,
the border, we call it
separates two imaginary,
yet very real
worlds –
violently
and this feeling i recognize
though it is sad,
though it is angry
it is unapologetic
it is non-negotiable
i do not bleed,
shed layers of my own
skin
to sustain the suffering
of this fragmented planet
i will only bear this,
continue to shed this
so that perhaps I can carry
the weight
that another cannot bear
-A
