The finish line

The story of Emily Doe moved me

To you I was just

another trophy

to be worn.

 

My clothing ticker tape

to be torn

and thrust through --

 

The finish line is just a goal

It doesn't need a name,

It doesn't have a soul.

 

Victim.

what I refuse to be

and you think you are.

 

I was asking for it,

after all,

drinking at that bar.

 

Who can blame you for

misinterpreting

my nodding off as saying yes?

 

Just because I fell down

doesn't mean you shouldn't

yank up my dress.

 

Who knows what

would have happened

if passersby hadn't interrupted

 

Your self-satisfaction

with your

"20 minutes of action"

 

You learned from your daddy

"Father knows best"

If a girl doesn't say no,

That's as good as yes.

Author's Note

Brock Allen Turner is not a quarterback, but the
theme is the same.
These stories are all too frequent. Rape is rape.
It needs to end. Emily Doe speaks for all women
who have ever had this experience.
Read her victim impact statement.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/heres-the-powerful-letter-the-stanford-victim-read-to-her-ra?utm_term=.nweq1QQgY#.yuQ6Jqq0g

Reviews

[barleygirl]

I feel your message here is very strong & poignant becuz of the vivid word pictures you've drawn here that pull no punches. These are the kinds of details that really make your point come alive:
"Who can blame you for
misinterpreting
my nodding off as saying yes?"

and (of course) the intensely stated last stanza. I love your straightforward style. I think this is every bit as strong & clear & impactful as my piece on this same topic. Thanks to you, as well, for bringing attention to this enduring problem which seems to be eclipsed by all the other tragedies in our modern world (((HUGS)))

[Lyn Anderson]

Thank you for reading and reviewing, and for the amazing story on the subject. I think at some point we all need to shout NO to all kinds of abuse -- the insidious way in which we continue to blame the victim is wrong. Those two men, after all, could have joined in, correct? No, they knew right from wrong, at a distance! I am not proud to say it, but I put myself in many a precarious situation in my day, and with the exception of my husbands, was never abused by boys or men who very well could have done so at the time. Hard to not rant on this one, isn't it?

[barleygirl]

Speaking of putting ourselves in precarious situations . . . one of these days I'll get the courage to write about how the worst damage (in my life) was not so much that my dad sexually abused me for years, but that I later went out & basically engaged in self-rape over & over by putting myself into precarious situations & not realizing I'm worth more than that & I deserve better than that. I'm only barely working my way up to some of the things I need to say on this topic.

[Ana Papaya]

This story is completely disgusting and disturbing and the only thing good about it is that it's grabbing attention and raising awareness.

[Lyn Anderson]

I heard it first on my favourite talk radio Toronto's am 640. Mike Stafford, the host, was very emotional about it. It is good to hear men repulsed and outraged too. This is not a man woman thing, or shouldn't be, it's a human thing.

[Ana Papaya]

It's a human thing, I agree.

[Wicahpi]

I agree, wholeheartedly, spot on! This story, like so many others, just makes me want to scream. This person and his father need serious counsel. Of course, the sentence by no means fits the crime. At first I thought this happened in South Dakota, where a rape sentence is usually very light. I think these judges went to the same law school. News like this is what makes most women, like myself, remain quiet. In thirty five years, things haven't changed much in this arena. Women and children are abused and murdered every day and oft times there is just not much justice. It's not a cultural thing or a race issue, it's a moral issue. None exist. A child learns morals from his/her parents. Granted, there are exceptions, but mostly the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. How does a father think this is okay behavior from any son. I feel for the wife/mother and any sisters/daughters in this family. Thank you for sharing!

[Lyn Anderson]

Thank you. That means heaps, coming from you. I am so sickened by the whole story. We are still, after all these years, fixated on the victim's behaviour and not the perpetrator's. Obviously the men who saved her had morals, and recognized a crime when they saw it.

[Lydia Shutter]

You are spot on with this one. The fact the Judge gave this sorry excuse for a man such a light sentence irks me to my very soul. The rapist's father is a disgusting excuse for a dad. How would he feel if HE had a daughter who was treated in this way? I have read her statement and it moved me so! Your poem says what so many are thinking, KL. Great job. Lydi**

[Lyn Anderson]

Thank you. I think this woman is one of the bravest, most earnest, most expressive people I have ever read. How could the judge hear all that and hand down such a paltry sentence? I don't get it.

[Lydia Shutter]

Nor do I! It is ludicrous!

[LastMonth]

Harsh.
And honest.

That escalated quickly.
But that's not a bad thing.

This is a very tense topic, one that is the subject of scrutiny and contempt by almost every society out there. While some view it as more forgiveble and open to discussion, I don't think any of the victims could ever accept that.

Sometimes the messege behind a poem overshadows the poem itself, the meaning vastly more important then the vocabulary, format and the words.

Keep up the good work.
You've done well.

[Lyn Anderson]

Thank you. I hope you got the chance to read her story in her own words. The trails of pine needles - his insistence that he would have stopped if he realized she was unconscious... his assertion that she orgasmed as she lay there, unknowing...