To be a woman

 Is to believe in 

Two opposite things

At the same time

And to believe them both

To be equally true

This body of a woman

This temple that creates

The miracle of new life

Expands and grows

Beyond its capacity

Enduring pain

Beyond imagination

To birth 

A new life

How can I not believe

That this temple

That does what nothing else can

That gives new life, 

The most 

Valuable thing in the world,

Is not the most sacred

Thing in the entire world

And then again

How can I elevate her

And belittle other bodies

Which have done no wrong

Girls

Who are not yet of age

Women

Who do not want to bear children

Women

Who yearn for children 

But cannot bear them

Women

Who have tried to bear children

And have only lost them

Men (and everyone else)

Who for no fault of theirs

Cannot bear children

Even if they wish to

How can I say

They are any less human

Or any less holy

Than a woman who bears children

Who, at the end of the day,

May be as pious or as sinful

As anyone else

 

And most importantly,

How can  I confine

A woman's value

To a mere body

And overlook

Her personhood

Which goes against

Everything I have always believed

So to be a woman

Is to believe in 

Two opposite things

At the same time

And to believe them both

To be totally true

 

To believe

That the temple of a woman;s body

Which births a new life

Is the greatest thing in the world

And to believe at the same time

That all bodies are equal

And a woman is no less a woman

Because she cannot or will not

Bear children

And that a woman is not 

Greater than any other woman

Just because she gives birth