This is about gratuitous descriptions of violence against women.
Content warning for gratuitous descriptions of violence against women.
She walks home alone on an unlit street
Our heroine, troubled, and making bad choices
She’s listening, can she hear following feet?
In the shadows behind her, is she hearing voices?
A violin scream and she’s grabbed from behind
Fade to black, then fade up on her tear-stained face.
We needed a rape scene to win hearts and minds
Cause the ratings this season have been a disgrace.
“It’s important that these women’s stories are told!”
But is it their stories you’re telling
Or have they become one more thing to be sold,
Is pain and defeat so compelling?
Her body was found in the river at dawn
She was beautiful, glamorous, slutty and dead.
And Detective Karpatski remembers he’s sworn
To serve and protect. Oh, the pain in his head!
He groans and he looks at the corpse, such a shame
She can’t tell us which underworld lowlife did this…
But she don’t need no voice and she don’t need no name
To get him to the top of the best seller list.
“It’s important that these women’s stories are told!”
But is it their stories you’re telling?
Or have they become one more thing to be sold,
Is pain and defeat so compelling?
Her hubby: a MONSTER! She BEGGED for her LIFE!
SICK stepfather FORCED me to take off my dress…
At NINE little Krystal’s already a WIFE!
For just 99p, read about her distress!
They answered the ad cause they thought, what the heck:
Money’s tight, so why not share these harrowing scenes?
A nice lady came round with a middle sized cheque
Now their faces stare out from the cheap magazines
“It’s important that these women’s stories are told!”
But is it their stories you’re telling?
Or have they become one more thing to be sold,
Is pain and defeat so compelling?
She lives on the streets, and she longs for a fix
She once had a husband. She’ll never go back.
She begs, and when that doesn’t work, she turns tricks
And hopes against hope that she won’t be attacked.
You saw her one evening and chucked her some change
It isn’t your truth but you don’t give a damn
You can use the idea to broaden your range
She’s a safe 9.5 in a poetry slam.
“It’s important that these women’s stories are told!”
But is it their stories you’re telling?
Or have they become one more thing to be sold,
Is pain and defeat so compelling?
Tom Juniper Poetry 