On Defining Rape to my Sixteen Year Old Daughter

My poetry is simply
one woman's story
There's no doubt
in my mind
when the soul enters
as Goddess of my Universe
I decide
whether by rape, incest
out of wedlock or within
troubled of happy
as Goddess of my Universe
I decide
a choice
I stand to lose
a prisoner of conscience
I may become.

and so I wrote
on defining rape to my 16 year old daughter
not the president
not the police
not the doctor
not the priest
as Goddess of my Univers
I decide.

On Defining Rape to my Sixteen Year Old Daughter

It was the fact that
she didn't spend the night with a girlfriend
as planned
she spent the night with a boyfriend
instead
that made me furious

"But mom, I didn't think anything would happen
or anyone would find our."

Of course not, darling
you were silence
you didn't tell a sour
and he did
first thing after he dropped you off
don't you know how boys talk?

It's not your virginity
it's your integrity
I feared lost
and baby
that's all we've got

You know what it is that mothers fear most?
it's not that you're made sweet love to
it's that he'll know all the right words
and make all the right moves
and that he'll want it
and you won't want to give it to him
and he'll take it anyway.

You know what that's called, darling?
Rape
and no one ever goes to jail for it
even though it's just as bad

and it's the fact that
it happens a lot
that makes me furious.
(c)1984