Violated (for Jane Doe and all Jane Does)

by Margery Parsons / October 11th, 2026

To be raped,
violated
by a family member,
a lover, a spouse,
stranger(s)
is to have body and soul
invaded
by inchoate ultra-violate rage
forever,
never to forget
being used, betrayed,
a vessel, a sleeve,
a tube, not human,
not free,
a thing, no dignity.
Men aren’t born
to rape, to perpetrate.
They are taught by a system
of consummate rapists, thieves
who traffic girls and women
across seas and continents,
market our debasement
for trillions in profits,
use our enslavement
for the empire’s enrichment.
Let the rage inside us
be like dark energy
that powers the universe,
exploding like stars,
erupting volcanically
till we free all women
and all humanity.

Margery Parsons is a poet and advocate for a radically different and better world. She lives in Chicago and in addition to poetry loves music and film. Her poems have been published in Rag Blog, Poetry Pacific, Calliope, New Verse News, OccuPoetry, Rise Up Review, Haiku Universe, Madness Muse Press and Illinois Poetry Society, with a forthcoming poem in Plate of Pandemic. Read other articles by Margery.

This article was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2026 at 8:00am and is filed under Poetry.