Paragon

I had to give this a teen rating due to some language.

Ninth grade ignited a flame.

Self-awareness engulfing my being,

A paragon of Buddhism did not know of

Enlightenment such as my own.

 

Why God did not employ a teenaged girl

To rule the depths of Hades, I did not know.

High school is a special kind of hell,

The locker rooms indisputably a most wicked purgatory,

Where a girl is torn down for

Her protruding stomach;

Where a girl is torn down for

Her small breasts;

Where a girl is called

S**t, w***e

S**t, w***e

S**t, w***e

For simply enjoying sex,

S**t, w***e

S**t, w***e

S**t, w***e

Because her sexualized body fuels rumors of a deviant reputation.

 

That year, Steubenville, Ohio

Graced the front pages,

And a sixteen year old girl was made

To suffer at the hands of

Two rapists,

At the hands of the white haired, white faced,

Blue collared lawmen who asked

What she was wearing,

What she had to drink,

What kind of sexual past she had experienced,

As if any of those facts could make her

Just as responsible for her rape as her

Rapists.

 

A sixteen year old girl was condemned in that

Ohio courtroom with a punishment that

Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond will never serve:

Shame.

 

When a man in the city is murdered in the dark of the night,

What he was wearing,

What he had to drink that night, and

How many people he has had sex with

Does not make him deserving of his homicide

And does not make his killer justified.

 

So, why, when a young woman is raped

Does she stand trial

In front of a jury who will consider that:

She shouldn’t have tempted him with her lack of clothing;

She shouldn’t have drank and left herself out of control;

She shouldn’t have had so much sex, because it causes assumption

That she likes it, 

Even when the dying vibrant, joyful young woman

Inside of her is screaming for help.

 

If ninth grade ignited the flame,

Tenth grade fueled the inferno.

 

A friend told me he was confused.

He didn’t understand how a character

From our literature class's assigned novel

Could be so contradictory.

 

Contraditory? I thought.

The character was brilliant, but she could have

Moments of stupor. She was brave, but she was

Scared of losing her father. She was compassionate, though

she had a hard time expressing empathy

Towards those she did not like.

My heart sunk.

Oh, I realized, he meant her being a woman.

He couldn’t wrap his head around a female being

A complex human being.

He couldn’t comprehend a female character being

Anything but flat and one dimensional.

 

I could not let it go.

I will not let it go.

I cannot let this one thing go unaddressed.

 

The conversation continued, and he rolled his eyes.

I added that the all people were complicated individuals.

He asked if women were really that complicated.

Were women that complicated?

Were women that complicated?

He held women apart from

Humanity.

I could not let that go.

I will not let that go.

I cannot let that one question go unanswered.

 

I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks,

The fire raging in my chest.

Smoke rose into my lungs.

Thick, acrid, black smoke,

The toxicity choking the words

Boiling inside my esophagus:

Women are people. Women are people. Women are people.

 

The words I shouldn’t have had to say

Died in my throat.

Author's Note

This is not meant to offend men. I do not hate men. I do not blame men. I blame misogynists and rapists and those who support rapists and misogyny.

I hope to read this at a poetry slam.

Reviews

[MissMellemonroe]

O.M.G. i love the way this poem makes me want to keep on reading, and how it really makes me think of how sociaty is treating women these days. so love your take on tis poem. Also, i never say this to anyone before, but i bow down to you and your gift of writting.

[devon]

Thank you!

[Coyote Poetry]

I have three daughters and six sisters. Rape is crime. The court system world wide is too weak on rape. Lately terrible things had been happening in this world to woman. I will never understand rape. You had a mother, grandmother, sister and wife. The poem is powerful. You will create thoughts and reaction with this poem at the poetry slam. Good luck. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on a important topic.
Coyote

[Emunah June.]

Oh my gosh, I JUST read this article in English class! Isnt this about the girl who was supposedly beyond drunk at a party and was raped and her pictures were posted all over Twitter and what not? God, it made me sick. This poem pretty much straightforward documents everything that was going through my mind when I read it.

It's awful, really, what happened, and how pretty much nothing was done in reguards to what happened to the poor girl. I completely agree with everything you wrote here and connected very well to the words you placed before me.

As for the poem itself, your use of prose was beautiful and flowed harshly, yet in such a way that it's easy to enjoy but hard to digest...you know what I mean? Like...oh...well, because the content is such a hard pill to swallow. But your words bring forth such life and fire that anyone who reads it will be cultivated into taking appropriate action. Bravo! Excellently penned, and I can't wait to see your future works.

[devon]

Thank you so much! This is one of the best reviews I've probably ever received on one of my works. I really, really appreciate it. Again, thank you.