Read Tricia Lockwood’s whole poem here. It begins:
The rape joke is that you were 19 years old.
The rape joke is that he was your boyfriend.
The rape joke it wore a goatee. A goatee.
Imagine the rape joke looking in the mirror, perfectly reflecting back itself, and grooming itself to look more like a rape joke …
This is an incredibly powerful prose poem. Expresses precisely what I’ve been trying to express via poetry for five years now — through drafts and drafts — and have never been able to achieve.
Lockwood’s narrative shares strong similarities with my story. Definite #TW; I’m sure there are many others with similar stories out there.
As well, it’s rare to see a poem do the rounds that is both GENUINELY EXCELLENT (from a literary perspective) and also political.
Required reading, ladies and gentlemen. This resonates and resonates.
Zenobia Frost 