I didn't know it at the time,
But at age 13,
I received a gift.
At first,
It surprised me with unspoken pleasures between twin sheets.
Two weeks later,
A red tide fell,
Ushering me into a new world.
I joined the sisterhood of knowing things that are only known by those who experience them,
Like a secret language spoken by half the human race.
The other half started giving me attention for the first time,
And for that,
I felt special.
Internally,
I was on a rollercoaster that began and ended with pain and blood,
A climate unto itself.
The treasure within that cyclical sacrifice was the ability to harbor new growth,
To create a living being,
To hold an unseen universe within me with its own suns and moons.
Even now,
It is a mystery to the outside world as to whether I'm ovulating,
Menstruating,
Or in the early stages of gestating,
Because we generally keep those things to ourselves.
Over time,
I've grown to embrace it all.
The messy and uncomfortable,
The expensive and inconvenient,
All wrapped up with the divine power to birth a human.
Those of us with uteruses deserve to choose when and with whom we have offspring.
It is our birthright,
And a humble request considering the decades of immeasurable work we endure.
We are the gift that creates the future of humanity,
And we do it all for free.
If we are fortunate,
We have support,
Mostly from our fellow uterus-havers,
Along our lifetime of labor.
Dear fellow humans,
May we please take care of ourselves,
Each other,
And the planet.
May we recognize the gifts we have received.
May we thank a mother today,
Whether our own or any other,
Out loud or in a silent prayer of gratitude for Mother Earth.
She'll hear us.
Each moment she is surrounding and uplifting us with gifts,
We are abundantly and unconditionally loved.
