Harassment

And, you know, politics aside,

The success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women except,

Of course —those who will end up,

You know, like, paying for their own rape ‘kit ‘n’ stuff,

But for everybody else, it’s a win-win.

Unless you’re a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years - whatever,

But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us,

Unless you believe in evolution,

You know - actually, I take it back,

The whole thing’s a disaster.

Beauty provokes harassment, the law says, but it looks through men's eyes when deciding what provokes it,

I became what I am today at the age of twelve,

On a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975,

I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall,

Peeking into the alley near the frozen creek,

That was a long time ago,

But it’s wrong what they say about the past,

I’ve learned, about how you can bury it,

Because the past claws its way out, Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.

Heaven is comfort, but it's still not living,

She’s fifteen, above the age of consent, and he’s seventeen, but he’s still “the boy” in every conversation, She’s “the young woman."

They are all innocent until proven guilty,

But not me, I am a liar until I am proven honest.