I keep the books at the country courthouse And answer phones of every kind from coast to coast Help keep the astronauts in space with complicated formules And give you echoes of my voice in song I wash your dishes iron your shirts and give you children And never mind a bit except when you forget That I am flash of your flash and bone of your bone And that Adam called me woman for I am the rib And not a footbone to be stepted on not a legbone to be walked on Not a hipbone to be sat on not a backbone to be leaned on Not a shoulderbone to be cried on not a headbone to be relied on But a ribbone to be side by side hand in hand not lesser then Not greater then but just what heaven planned Yes you see I am the rib Many fields have I bought and with my own hands have I planted winyards With the fruits of my labors I have reached out to the prove Before the light of day I have risen to feed my household And my husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land My pride is far above rubies but for love trust and respect Will I gladly share my gifts and willingly will I walk for good but not for evil As long as he remembers that I am the rib And not a footbone... For I am the rib