The poem builds from the ordinary experience of menstruation through a series of ever more ecstatic images. For the poet, menstruation is transformed into the mystical river that "flows through" and connects animals, human animals and other animals, in the great tide of life. See also to my last period by the same author. Other related poems in this database include First Menstruation (Ellen Bass) and Something to Look Forward To (Marge Piercy).