this Men O’Pause

By guest poet Gillian Burgess

My brain — so foggy
Should I worry? Driving, computing, decision-making;
cloudy

My body — so hot
The flush spreads: cheeks, forehead, underarms;
embarrassing

My bleeding starts at age eleven,
heralded with pain in my belly;
down my legs, in my head

My emotions hair-triggered …
Rage; Sadness;
Frustration; so many tears

Hormones controlling 
more than I ever realised;
oil for the cogs

Now they’re receding,
my body functions with difficulty:
drying up; itching; bloating

Forty-two childbearing years
seems too long to endure;
the end — excruciating.

Photo by Gillian Burgess: Fitzroy Gardens Conservatory, Melbourne