I was browsing MSNBC for an article on Palin's daughter's soon to be mom-in-law being busted on drug charges when I came across an article on a lesbian who was gang-raped in East Bay. (Click here for the article.)
Whenever I read or hear the word rape I become nauseated. I read the article and cried. My heart and soul go out to this victim.
I want to hold her hand.
I want to hug her and tell she isn't alone.
I want to tell her it will be OK, but I know it will be a long time before it will be OK. And, even when you start to think it is OK, that you dealt with most of the demons, something small will happen that makes you realize you haven't.
I want to tell here there will be times of sadness, anger, and depression. Do not bottle them. Let them out.
I want to tell her there will be nightmares. There will be nights that she won't want to go to sleep because sleep is the one place you think you can escape, so be prepared.
I want to tell her to never think: "What could I have done differently?" Those words formed together to make that sentence have no place in her mind because it implies she had control, and she didn't. She was was robbed of control among other things.
And, when the time comes, and it might be years, I beg her to speak out because she will be able to help others who've been in her shoes.
I want to end with a poem I wrote last week. I'll probably end up taking the poem down in a few days, or maybe I'll leave it. Who cares if an editor doesn't want it because it was in my blog. This issue is bigger than publication.
LAW & ORDER: SVU
I like to see the the rapist slammed
against the interrogation room wall,
to stand before the judge
and receive a hefty sentence.
My thoughts transcend the show:
Will the rapist be raped in prison?
Will he finally know how it hurts?
I watch to see the bad guy persecuted,
not for the episodes with open endings,
that's how it happened with me.
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3 comments:
Yes, this issue *is* bigger than publication. This issue is huge. Thank you for sharing this poem. And thank you for sharing what you have so that this woman will know she's not alone. So we all know we're not alone.
Compassion and empathy for fellow human beings violated trumps publication any day. But they shouldn't be mutually exclusive. I like you poem and the commentary above is nice prose too - done with heart. Yours is a good one.
Hi Dustin, thank you for exposing this, and for your poem on it.
It makes me so ill to think how very little has been accomplished--really accomplished--in terms of reducing the incidence of rape.
For the most part, most people(especially most men) just. don't.
understand.
I'm grateful you are an exceptional man, a man who truly cares.
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