My eighth graders stare at me
with question mark eyes
and heads put off
to the side:
Rape happens
in relationships?
***
We laid there on the floor
behind his couch. Shirts
on. Pants ripped
down low enough
for easy
entry.
It was like we were hiding,
though there was no one there
to speak
out about his jackhammer
thrusts, piercing through
and breaking down the sacred earth
-ly flesh
reserved for supplicants,
warm offerings, not
this.
Are you finished?
***
In the definition of rape
forcibly is modified
by: with threat of injury
and female
by: a person incapable of valid consent.
***
We took the train together
in the mo(u)rning
staring straight back
at the past escaping
our mentioning
it
down the dark subway tunnel.
What if I pushed him?
But - Stop…
What if he listened?
Stop!
***
From the back of the room
Victor asks me:
But if she said yes at first
how can you blame him?
They repeat after me:
There is no sex if there is no consent.
There is no sex if there is no consent.
There is no sex if there is no consent.
***
I said, No!
What if even no isn’t enough?
