“The monthly visitor” is amongst many names by which ‘Menses’ is known by. Asides menses, period(s) is also used formally while Moon time, Crimson tide, Shark week etc, are informal.
Menstruation, which is simply the process of shedding menses from the body is a normal process that occurs in women.
Menses is a mixture of blood, parts of the inner lining of the uterus(womb), mucus from the cervix and secretions from the vagina. This mixture is shed through the vagina over a period of 2 to 7 days, to be repeated every 21 to 35 days.
Days of the monthly visitor (wanted, but not really) is in two parts; the first is a poem where a narrator reflects with nostalgia her experience with “the monthly visitor”, while the second explains line-by-line the first part.
Below is a visual representation of the first part (the poem), while the rest of the article continues after.
Days of the Monthly Visitor
The first time the visitor came
was in high school before a game
Red! I heard a voice exclaim
…well, it brought me fame
“mother nature” they called my name
The early visits were arcane;
unaware ’twas a monthly campaign
and the cloak, black or rose champagne,
I’d leave door ajar, again n again
and guest would slip through, like rain
It was confusing, the aliases
like moon time, red oasis,
crimson tide, shark week and menses
Also, I didn’t understand the basis
like hormones cos’ I skipped classes
then I adjusted, learned to slay,
took it in stride, expected replay
till for some reason, seeming delay
then I’d wish I didn’t wish guest away
Alas, knock! knock!! and fears allay
For five days, every twenty-eight
the red-cloaked caller, seldom late,
knocks light or heavy, makes irate;
tireless visitant that’ll never abate,
expected guest I somewhat hate
From that game and thereafter,
like clockwork, visits didn’t alter
except for nine months and some after
Thirty-five years for the frequenter,
seeming ‘unending’ days of the visitor
'Days of the monthly visitor', explained
Stanza 1 (Menarché and the Monthly Visitor)
“The first time the visitor came” … “was in high school, before a game” (stanza 1, lines 1 & 2)
The first menstruation is called menarché. It also means the first time a girl sees her menses/ periods.
The normal age for menarché is usually between 9 and 16. While factors like genetics and environment, including diet may influence the age at which this occurs, most girls would have started seeing their periods between 12 and 15 years.
Girls within this age bracket will usually be in high school.
“Red! I heard a voice exclaim” … “…well it brought me fame” … “mother nature they called my name” (stanza 1, lines 3, 4 & 5)
The first time a girl sees her period, it may be completely painless and she may be unaware.
It may come in the form of bright red to brown flow or spotty discharge.
If this occurs in public especially if the girl does not know what it means, she may panic and it may be quite embarrassing.
It is therefore important that young girls should be educated about menstruation and ‘puberty’ as early as possible.
Stanza 2 (the different forms of the monthly visitor)
“The early visits were arcane” (stanza 2, line 1)
As I stated above, early education is very important, probably from 7 years of age, so that the girl child will know what to expect as puberty commences and especially the importance of hygiene during this period.
I have interacted with mothers that know practically nothing about menstruation except that they bleed every month.
Perhaps the most shocking I have heard from more than one person is that periods come when an egg breaks in the woman’s womb.
“unaware ’twas a monthly campaign” (stanza 2, line 2)
I stated earlier that the process of menstruation occurs regularly every 21 to 35 days, with each episode lasting from 2 to 7 days.
In other words, every 21 to 35 days, a woman is expected to bleed for 2 to 7 days.
It is important to note that ‘month’ as it relates to menstruation is different from the everyday calendar that we use.
A woman may say that she saw her menses twice in a month and once, the next month.
This may be because the periods came at the beginning and end of the first month and the end of the next month.
Every woman should have her own ‘monthly calendar’.
There are mobile apps that make it easy to keep track of menses and create your own calendar. Alternatively, diaries or private calendars could be used.
Creating your own calendar helps to monitor your pattern of flow over time such that you may observe changes promptly and even predict when your next menses will come.
“and the cloak, black or rose champagne” (stanza 2, line 3)
In this article, I have personalized menses as “the monthly visitor”; I have thus used the word ‘cloak’ to refer to the visitor’s attire, meaning the color of the menstruum(menstrual flow).
This line referring to “the cloak” as black, or rose champagne (and bright red to brown, earlier) implies that the color of menses varies.
The commonest determinants of color of menses include: speed of flow, how long the menstruum spends in the uterus before ejection and the quantity of the menstrual fluid that is actual blood.
In this light, the faster the flow, the closer to bright red it will be and if anything causes the blood to stay more than a few hours in the uterus, it gets darker, approaching even black.
Also, towards the end of the flow, the quantity of blood in the menses would have reduced, with more of it being clear ‘vaginal secretions’ and cervical mucus. The flow thus appears pinkish.
“I’d leave door ajar again and again” … “and guest would slip through, like rain” (stanza 2, lines 4 & 5)
These lines refer to ‘staining’ that could occur when the monthly visitor(guest) slips through a door that is ajar that is, using inappropriate sized pads or tampons, or not predicting and preparing for when the flow will begin.
Stanza 3
“It was confusing, the aliases” … “like moon time, red oasis,” … “crimson tide, shark week and menses” (stanza 3, lines 1, 2 & 3)
At the very beginning of this article, I stated other names by which menses is known by. Names like moon time, red oasis, crimson tide, shark week etc are used informally.
Most of these informal names are jargons, used within groups of people, say friends or co-workers; this means that new names could be generated as need be.
“It was confusing, the aliases” … “like moon time, red oasis,” … “crimson tide, shark week and menses” (stanza 3, lines 4 & 5)
Obviously, if one skips classes they would miss out on information.
Hormones, which are chemical compounds produced in the body, control many normally occurring processes.
As regards the production of menses, one of such hormones, ‘estrogen’ acts on the uterus to prepare it for pregnancy every month.
If pregnancy fails to occur, the lining of the uterus is shed. This is mixed with blood and other fluids to make up menses.
Menstruation has been described as “the tears of a disappointed uterus”; however, this description may be offensive to some.
Another important hormone that contributes to the production of menses includes progesterone and the hormone-like prostaglandins.
Stanza 4
“then I adjusted, learned to slay,” … “took it in stride, expected replay” (stanza 4, lines 1 & 2)
These lines basically tells us how ‘the narrator” has learned to “slay” and plan for when her next menses would come.
Remember, menstruation is a normal process, not a disease.
“till for some reason, seeming delay” (stanza 4, line 3)
Sometimes, menses may ‘refuse’ to come as expected. The commonest causes of this delay include pregnancy, breastfeeding, stress (physical or emotional), use of contraceptive pills, sudden weight loss or gain etc.
Stress, for example, preparing for school examinations, traveling or relocating, doing a lot of exercise and emotional stress could cause ‘period delay’, sometimes for several days.
“then I’d wish I didn’t wish guest away” … “Alas, knock! knock!! and fears allay” (stanza 4, lines 4 & 5)
Perhaps, the commonest complaint of women seeing the gynecologist has to do with abnormalities of menstrual flow.
“The monthly visitor” may refuse to come (amenorrhea) or may come with pain (dysmenorrhea). Meanwhile, as regards quantity or duration of flow, other conditions include scanty flow or infrequent periods (oligomenorrhea), heavy flow (menorrhagia) etc.
If these interfere with daily activities, it could be indeed distressful.
Generally, you should report any menstrual abnormalities lasting more than 3 months to your doctor.
In the case of amenorrhea (no flow at all), where there is no obvious cause like confirmed pregnancy or use of contraceptives and this has lasted for more than a month, please consult your doctor.
Stanzas 5 and 6
The lines that make up stanzas 5 and 6 help to buttress the points I have stated earlier.
NOTE: During pregnancy, ‘the monthly visitor’ stays away, that is, periods stop. Some bleeding may occur however, in early pregnancy (first trimester). This bleeding may be “implantation bleeding“.
Stanza 6, line 4 (thirty-five years for the frequenter) points to the whole ‘reproductive life’ of a woman from menarché to menopause. It is normally 30 to 45 years.
In the case of the narrator however, the frequenter (monthly visitor) persisted for 35 years.
Conclusion
The monthly visitor refers to periods or menses while menstruation is the process whereby menses is shed from the body.
Days of the monthly visitor is a narration by a woman as she recalls how she started menstruating and some of her experiences along the way.
She personifies menses as ‘the monthly visitor’.
