This Halloween’s Plan

A Poem

This Halloween,

I have a plan,

a plan to complete the dream,

to unmask and unleash,

the beast inside me,

and kill the coward inside me.

Unleash the beast to kill the monsters —

with the power of my voice,

Unleash the beast against “Chhaupadi”,

against the superstition,

against the toxic male masculinity,

against the tampon tax.

I can already hear the nearing roar,

of creativity and innovation,

either in the form of tampon book,

or as the pad vending machine.

Author’s Note: I want to praise these innovative projects. The Tampon Book is a social project to disclose the fact, that menstrual sanitary product is taxed as luxury items (19%) in Germany while books are taxed only 7%. I don’t think this is only a problem in Germany. Some handful of countries have initiated to either reduce the tax or make them entirely tax-free. Another amazing social project is the vending machine with sanitary products in Kathmandu, Nepal. While some of the girls and women are still exiled during their menstruation, this project is empowering the schoolgirls in Kathmandu. This is not necessarily a sign, that everything is city-centric but this is letting “Chhaupadi” and other menstrual superstitions gain their spotlight before their demolishment. Still not much has changed. But these projects are the pioneers and inspiring others to tackle societal issues with creativity. We should fight and raise our voices until one of the most natural things in the world remains most acceptive and we don’t need to be creative to tackle them.

In response to Halloween’s Ball Invitation to take the mask off. Thank you, Ashley Evenson and Shringi Kumari.

Some of my other poems:

Anish Lamichhane is a medical doctor from Germany. He has his interests in medical oncology (cancer medicine), psychiatry (mental health medicine), palliative care and digitalization of health care. He likes to present health stories and stories about social customs in a non-traditional way with poetry and health education pieces. All his articles are his personal expressions. Please consult your health care providers for direct professional medical recommendations.