The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: Stained: An Anthology of Writing About Menstruation, Curated and Edited by Rachel Neve-Midbar & Jennifer Saunders

This selection, chosen by guest editor Amber Alexander, is from Stained: An Anthology of Writing About Menstruation, curated and edited by Rachel Neve-Midbar & Jennifer Saunders, released by Querencia Press in 2023.

Red

by Nikki Marrone

Sometimes I leave the blood on my skin,
To remember that red is not the colour of violence.
And that I am not a victim waiting to happen.
This space between my legs is not a crime scene.
Red is not a blood-stained sidewalk,
It is not the cut of a prostitute’s gown,
Sometimes I leave the blood on my skin;
For the ones who have no choice,
To remember those who wear it like war paint,
And to support those who it wear it with shame.
This is no tear-stained apology.
Nor a problem to be solved.
This is a not something to be taken lightly,
Nor a burden heavily carried.
Sometimes I leave the blood on my skin;
To remind myself that being a woman,
Isn’t something easily washed away.
To remind myself that being a woman,
Isn’t unclean.

Nikki Marrone is a spoken word performer, published poet, photographer, and coffee addict. She is motivated through feelings, of which she has plenty. Nikki is the winner of multiple poetry slams and has featured at various spoken word nights and festivals internationally but is based in the UK. Nikki is the author of Psychogenic Fugue, Honey & Lemon and Burning Through the Bloodline.

Poet, essayist, and translator Rachel Neve-Midbar‘s collection Salaam of Birds (Tebot Bach, 2020) was chosen by Dorothy Barresi for the Patricia Bibby First Book Prize. She is also the author of the chapbook What the Light Reveals (Tebot Bach, 2014), winner of The Clockwork Prize. Rachel’s work has appeared in journals such as Blackbird, Prairie Schooner, Grist, and The Georgia Review as well as other publications and anthologies. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California where her research concerns menstruation in contemporary poetry.

Jennifer Saunders is the author of Self-Portrait with Housewife (Tebot Bach, 2019), winner of the 2017 Clockwise Chapbook Competition. Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Glass, Spillway, The Shallow Ends, Whale Road Review, and elsewhere, and has earned nominations for Best of the Net, The Pushcart Prize, and the Orison Anthology. Jennifer holds an MFA from Pacific University, and lives in German-speaking Switzerland.

Amber Alexander, who publishes creative work as e. holloway, is a poet based in Ohio. They currently work in higher education and as an Assistant Editor for Best Of The Net within Sundress Publications. Alexander is a former Editorial Intern for Sundress Publications, former Editorial Board Member for Cornfield Review, and was a Sundress Academy for The Arts Writing Resident in 2023. Their work has been published by Cornfield Review and earned multiple awards during undergrad at The Ohio State University.