The Rape Joke 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.” No offense. The rape joke is that he was seven years older. The rape joke is that you had known him for years,…