Elmo - a Poem about Date Rape

Elmo lies flat on his back-
He's tired from all the laughing.

"I wish you wouldn't tickle me
so much
and
so hard..."

"It's not rape if you're laughing,"

replies the voice from above.
*************************************
I wrote this last night, since I could not sleep and sadly, it has to do with an experience that happened during my very first week at college. My date and I were riding back to the dorm in the back of the car together, when the bastard tickled me, causing me to fall down on my back in surprise, and he "fell" too. It was one of the scariest moments of my life-I was laughing, but the situation was anything but funny. "Get off, get off!" I protested and finally, after letting me panic for a minute, he got up like he had not just demonstrated his true wishes for a nightly game of control and punishment. Thankfully, I was able to convince him not to take me to his dorm, but to drop me off at mine. He was very reluctant and I still do not know what it was that made him decide to let me have my way, for he certainly did not do that with any of the other young freshmen that he "dated" that year. When the rumours were flying about a campus rapist targeting freshwomyn later that year, I knew without any doubt that he was the one.

Even if the violated person is laughing, it is still sexual assault or rape-the only time it is not is when that person emphatically says yes! Yes means yes-anything less than clear consent is rape.