Is this a good poem for the declamation contest? it is Rape Poem by:Marge Piercy?

Question

There is no difference between being raped
and being pushed down a flight of cement steps
except that the wounds also bleed inside.

There is no difference between being raped
and being run over by a truck
except that afterward men ask if you enjoyed it.

There is no difference between being raped
and being bit on the ankle by a rattlesnake
except that people ask you if your skirt was short
and why you were out alone anyhow.

There is no difference between being raped
and going head first through a windshield
except that afterward you are afraid
not of cars
but half the human race.

The rapist is your boyfriend's brother.
He sits beside you in the movies eating popcorn.
Rape fattens on the fantasies of the normal male
like a maggot in garbage.

Fear is a cold wind blowing
all of the time on a woman's hunched back.
Never to stroll alone on a sand road through pine woods,
never to climb a trail across a bald
without that aluminum in the mouth
when I see a man climbing toward me.
Never to open the door to a knock
without that razor just grazing the throat.
The fear of the dark side of headges,
the back seat of the car, the empty house
rattling keys like a snake's warning.
The fear of the smiling man
in whose pocket is a knife.
The fear of the serious man
in whose fist is locked hatred.

All it takes to cast a rapist is seeing your body
as jackhammer, as blowtorch, as adding-machine-gun.
All it takes is hating that body
your own, your self, your muscles that softens to flab.

All it takes it to push what you hate,
what you fear onto the soft alien flesh.
To bucket it out invincible as a tank
amored with treads without senses
to possess and punish in one act,
to rip up pleasure, to murder those who dare
live in the leafy flesh open to love.

Additional Details

declamation contest is what my school does every year, everyone has to choose a poem, memorize it, and recite it to the class and some judges, the next round they recite it to the entire school, next round is to parents...the winner gets $100 and 2 extra quiz grades in english...

yes i would.....i can relate to it...so yes i would be comfortable...

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

great poem

heres one of my favorites by someone else

SUMMER WITH MONIKA

ten milk bottles standing in the hall
ten milk bottles up against the wall
next door neighbour thinks we’re dead
hasn’t heard a sound, he said
doesn’t know we’ve been in bed
the ten whole days since we were wed
no-one knows and no-one sees
we lovers doing as we please
but people stop and point at these
ten milk bottles a-turning into cheese

ten milk bottles standing day and night
ten different thicknesses and
different shades of white
persistent carol singers without a note to utter
silent carol singers a-turning into butter

now she’s run out of passion
and there’s not much left in me
so maybe we’ll get up and make a cup of tea
and then people can stop wondering
what they’re waiting for
those ten milk bottles a queuing at our door
those ten milk bottles a queuing at our door.


Roger McGough

AND NOW ONE OF MY OWN
This reduced a room full of people to silence for a few seconds as it sunk in

Fallen Angel

Battletorn and unmoving,
Amy smashed against
Her pink bedroom wall
Aged, four, never to see five
In a white dress
With crimson polka dots
Wings disjointed, twisted
Golden hair matted
Arm stretched, reaches
For heaven.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

oh my god...it almost made me cry....

Answer 2

would you seriously be comfortable saying that poem in front of everyone at your school...and then everyones PARENTS