Rape Schedule

Clocks ticking
                            Keys jingling
                                                        Hearts pacing 
                                                                                     Thoughts racing
Unaware of this race
To safety
I have constantly been playing
Looking over the shoulder
Paranoid
Of who might gain on me
The shadows are my friends
The loneliness is an enemy
Preparing myself, to be
Ready
Just in case . . . 
Clocks ticking
                            Keys jingling
                                                        Hearts pacing 
                                                                                     Thoughts racing
The consistency to haste
Attached permanently
Paranoid
Of the races home
To protection
Depending on a soldier
When the shield is me
Within me
Within us
—Women
Prepared, to be
Ready
Just in case . . . 
We need to be           	
Ready
For unexpected            
Actions
Of                	
People
Who wish to hurt us            
Emotionally
Not on a schedule, or
Based on fear—
But with confident assumptions
Just in case . . .