caring for small children
leading business meetings
volunteering at schools, hospitals, the local rape crisis center
writing best selling novels
our stories vary in detail
one was raped by a stranger in a dark parking lot
the stereotypical image of sexual violence
while another was molested by her father or neighbor or family friend
the language changes, but the facts are essentially the same
someone used force or coercion to overpower, abuse, shame
and the healing takes years
but we go on
skillfully, courageously
often silently
we are your colleagues, neighbors, friends
and you might never know
because such stories rarely have a place
in daily conversation
and we go on
sighing at every new magazine article
that offers women
yet more advice
on how to lose weight, dye our hair, diminish signs of aging
dress more confidently/sexily/fashionably
be somehow other than what we are
who we’ve become
like somehow we never get it right
which is ultimately what rape taught us
especially when the voices start rattling in our heads
if only
we had fought back
never gone on the date
told our mother, guidance counselor, minister
not worn that particular outfit
chosen another way home, a different man to partner with
not taken the candy, the balloon, the offers of kindness
but no
if only
we, as a society, could STOP
gorging ourselves
on a daily diet of violence against women
the endless stream of print ads
selling stuff-sex-women-stuff-sex-women
the nightly TV dramas
movies and magazines
fantasy or supposed parody
portraying what it is only
too real
if you know one woman who has been raped or battered
and trust me, you probably do
don’t buy a movie ticket to see
a woman beheaded in front of her daughter
shut off your TV in protest
of violent content as entertainment
tell Nike to shove their ads
and their products
when they dare to depict a woman
in running sneakers
fleeing from a man with a chain saw
the one that got away
because many more of us didn’t
and we are your colleagues, neighbors, friends
we are everywhere