There is no difference between being raped

and being pushed down a flight of cement steps

except that the wounds also bleed inside.

There is no difference between being raped

and being run over by a truck

except that afterward men ask if you enjoyed it.

……..

There is no difference between being raped

and going headfirst through a windshield

except that you are afraid afterward

not of cars

but half the human race.

……..

Fear of rape is a cold wind blowing

all of the time on a woman’s hunched back.

The fear of the dark side of hedges,

the back seat of the car, the empty house.

The fear of the smiling man in whose pocket is a knife.

The fear of the smiling man in whose fist is locked hatred.

All it takes to cast a rapist is seeing your body

as jackhammer, as blowtorch, as adding- machine- gun.

……..

All it takes is to push what you hate,

what you fear onto the soft alien flesh.

To bucket out invincible as a tank

armoured with treads without senses

to possess and punish in one act,

to rip up pleasure, to murder those who dare

live in the leafy flesh open to love.

By – Marge Piercy