The Rape
by Ray Williams
The land was beautiful --
Like a woman.
Not a young woman, mind you,
Nor a pretty one
(For pretty never counts for anything).
A woman who has grown,
Matured,
Whose beauty is within her, IS her.
Like a woman in repose.
The hills -- her form covered in folds of velvet,
Thick and rich,
Reflecting all the hues of morning sun,
Dark brown, soft tan,
Warm ochre, subtle tones of grey --
Seduced us.
The trees, gnarled and bent,
The lines upon her face,
Harsh in themselves, perhaps,
But, taken in the whole,
Gave her her character --
Emotions that she once had felt had left their marks ...
See, there the lightning struck,
That scar was rain, angry, beyond control,
Yet here had water stood, refreshing her,
Those trees that lean --
The wind that brushed her shoulder made them so ...
Her joys and sorrows all recorded here.
The others felt it, too, I saw:
Tony, in the lead, slowed down
And Gary pushed his visor up
The better to enjoy her scents
That others, less than we, can never know.
My Ninja was impatient, urged me on,
This woman of the world had snared us both.
Leaning into corners we explored her body,
Like lover's hands caressing every curve.
Racing into valleys, cresting hills together,
We matched her rhythms.
We and she, the hills, the world were one.
That's how she was.
We saw the rape.
In silence watched the yellow tractors tear her gown;
The trucks that hauled the earth away
Were taking what could never be replaced;
The men who worked there,
Did they know,
Or care,
Or even think of what they did?
She was no virgin, that we knew,
But those before were lovers
Who'd lived with her a little or a longer while
Then wandered off.
They'd left their marks upon her
(Fence posts, dry and cracked,
The old barbed wire, deserted shacks)
But these became a part of her,
A token to remember other times.
Those lovers wanted her --
They took, but gave back what they could (or more).
These spoilers now who had her, they cared not.
I wondered if they saw her, or
Even in the act, were they
Entranced by fantasies of someone else,
A girl at home or what they'd do tonight ?
And we rode by.
No longer knights,
No longer pure or having any honour,
No longer free.
My Ninja didn't even speak to me.
It went where I directed,
Reluctantly.
The land, this woman,
Rose above this savagery,
Disdaining them and us.
Her beauty was still there --
But now we had to search for it,
Imagine what it once had been --
They could not take that from her.
And I felt petty.
The road we traveled,
Once a path to some nirvana,
Required a barrier
So those of us who'd done this thing
Would now not kill each other.
(Riding in the hills in California )
Ray Williams
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