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...