I Contain Multitudes

I have within me
perhaps the president of a free nation.
(though dormant now),
within me lies a great somebody,
or a great many somebodies--
to surpass me.
A greater writer than me,
a better lover than me...
a farmer, a teacher, a father, a mother.

My body contains future bodies and future souls--
I contain multitudes.

I share with all fair-sexed creatures
the most base of instincts--
to choose a partner worthy.
What good and hearty man will raise these babes up
in the sunlight of my absence?
Who will help me to nurture these
future hungry spirits?

I contain the world within me,
and whatever remains of life that I cannot do myself,
I will have birthed babes to do them in my place.

I am a woman,
I contain multitudes.