Short Read: Rape Joke, A Poem By Patricia Lockwood

“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. ‘Ahhhh,’ it thinks. ‘Yes. A goatee.‘”