I gave you my body and my dreams,
and all the empires I’ve created and destroyed,
I’ve sacrificed heart, throat, and crown
and now I stand before you
naked as the sky at dawn.
I am,
but I do not know my name.
I am called whatever the birds sing on quiet mornings,
the laughter of children on playgrounds,
the streaming tears on rosy cheeks of widows,
the fleeting ambition of men,
the precious moments that pass unnoticed in the eyes of lovers,
and the joy of all you mothers who are giving birth to me now…
Perhaps this is the first honest thing
I have ever said.