Waiting for Godden: 'RED' launches online today...

RED - the editors choice in The Skinny, read all about it: http://www.theskinny.co.uk

RED

You should see what I made red

You should see my art

Look at my beetroot chutney

Look at me and my soupy pants

You should see me now

On all fours groaning

Rocking back and forth

On my haunches

Breathing into it

Breathing out of it

Clinging to my hot water bottle like a life raft

Low frequency cramps

Punctuated by knitting needle cramps

With extra kick and prick

Like a scissors jab and snip inside my bloody hole

And the product is blackcurrant jelly

Redcurrant syrup

You should see what I made red

You should see my art

The sheets, the sheets, the sheets

I made all the sheets red

All the bed a pool of red heat

In the bath there are floating globs

Chunky bloody marmalade

Black cherry vomit

Farmhouse strawberry jam

I'm having a very heavy time man!

But I won't make too much of a fuss

Just leave me here to bleed to death

The last thing we want is any fuss

Just leave me here to drown in my own blood

You should see what I make red

You should see what I made red

Real red and vivid as black cherry juice

Kidneys in my frying pants

My pyjamas are my butchers apron

I used a whole packet of pads in one day

Remarkable!

But if men had periods and I was a man I'd walk into a pub

Throw the empty packet down on the bar and yell

'Hey I am having the biggest one

I used a whole packet in one day!'

And I'd demand free drink

And the pub would all applaud

And the men would slap me on the back for having a big one

In the movie of this month I would be played by Bruce Willis 'Bleed Hard'

Sylvester Stallone 'You drew first blood...'

You should see what I made red

You should see my mess

Have you ever seen such a massive giant period?

Where is it coming from?And when will it ever stop?

All this bleeding bloody blood is mine

I am making it come out somehow

But,

This blood does not come from violence

But my own violent nature

This blood does not come from murder

This blood is not my death

There are no bullets or knives

This is no wound or sickness

This blood is not a weakness

This blood is my moon, my time

This blood is all me

And yet this blood disgusts us the most

More than any blood

More than the blood on the hands of mans bloody war

This blood disgusts us most

This shameful blood, this quiet blood

Shush! Don't mention the lady blood

Shush! Don't mention this discreet blue lady blood

Yet, we must pay tax for this silent blood

Every month we pay tax to bleed

This blood of mine is so very disgusting

Yet also so taxable

And that tax goes to anti abortion charities

We are haemorrhaging women's rights

We are paying to bleed away another woman's choice

That tampon tax goes to battered women's charities

It's blood for blood, bleeding for bloody battered women

We are taxed to bleed to bleed to bleed to bleed...

So fuck you

I'll get my moneys worth

Come see what I paint red

You should see what I made red

Come see, come see what I made red

You should see my mess

The bathroom, the bedroom

Everything is stained with my stink

The whole world I paint it red, red, red

Come see, come see, come look

You should see what I made red

You should see me, see me, see red

"Anything you can do I can do bleeding

I can do anything dripping with blood"

(c) Salena Godden. London / 2017

'RED' is the editors choice in The Skinny: http://www.theskinny.co.uk

RED
a new work by Salena Godden

Poem and film donated to the NASTY WOMEN UK major London art show at Stour Space, Hackney Wick, September 22nd-24th 2017

Salena Godden, one of the UK’s most iconic poets, has stepped forward to donate her latest poem RED in a collaboration with Nasty Women UK.

"RED is a poem about periods. RED is about stigma. This is about women's autonomy over their own bodies and their own choices. RED is a protest poem against the tampon tax, anger that sanitary products have been considered a luxury item and therefore taxable. RED is a fury that money from the UK tampon tax is funding anti-abortion charities. I have great admiration for the work of the Nasty Women's global movement and donate this work as an endorsement. We must end all violence against all women in all its forms. We must end the tampon tax. I wish all women to have a bloody safe and bloody healthy period. Period!"

Nasty Women is a global art movement that serves to demonstrate solidarity among artists who identify with being a Nasty Woman in the face of threats to roll back women’s rights, individual rights, and abortion rights. With over 40 events across the globe Nasty Women Exhibitions also serve to support organizations defending these rights and to be a platform for organization and resistance.

The Nasty Women UK inaugural event on 22-24 September is an art exhibition and weekend of talks, comedy, spoken word, live music and workshops. The exhibition includes 2D work, sculpture, sound installations, street art, performance, political baked goods and an immersive art installation where visitors will be able to create their own artwork in Virtual Reality. The exhibition also includes a VR experience that re-creates instances of sexism and street harassment and aims to give men and women a visceral understanding of what it’s really like to be attacked in the street or on public transport just because you are a woman. All artworks will be for sale, with prices ranging from £5 to £500. All proceeds will be donated End Violence Against Women, a leading coalition of specialist women’s support services, researchers, activists, survivors and NGOs working to end violence against women and girls in all its forms.

Salena Godden latest poetry collection, the live spoken word album LIVEwire was released with Nymphs and Thugs and shortlisted for this years prestigious Ted Hughes award. Salena Godden is also one of the contributors to award winning anthology The Good Immigrant.

The Nasty Women Spoken Word event is on Sunday 24th September. Salena Godden shares the stage with powerful poets, Lisa Luxx, Michelle Madsen, Maria Ferguson, Sophie Cameron, Michelle Fisher and Claire Trevian among many others. Tickets are £15, this includes entry to this epic Spoken Word event, live music performances plus DJ sets, book your ticket today! See you there!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-night-nasty-women-of-spoken-word-and-music-tickets-37324073308