Bloodshed by Valerie Parente

They say us women are the weak ones
even though every month we shed blood
created with a mechanism for self sacrifice
sometimes giving our own life to create more life.

Not every woman is allowed to do what she wants
some bleed and make life whether they like it or not
and these men only bleed when they decide
deciding to bleed as a means to end lives.

What’s with all these disenchanted young men
thinking the solution is to resort to bloodshed?
That to eliminate their own unpleasant feelings
they must cause some kind of chaos and bleeding.

Their bloodshed is perfectly preventable
a consequence to actions deemed inevitable
but it’s women’s bloodshed that was never a choice
yet our society makes a choice to teach it to boys.

Once a month every year all because of hormones
every week a violent news story because he feels alone
but make no mistake, it was never him vs. her
it’s what we decide to do with nature vs. nurture.

– Valerie Parente (10-4-2025)