Never
      such
      innocence
     
     
      again
     
    
   
   
    
     
      by
      STEVEN
      McCORMOND
     
     
      I
     
    
   
   
    
     
      While
      friends
      laughed
      and
      drank
      by
      bonfire
     
    

    
     
      she
      walked
      into
      woods
      to
      urinate,
      was
      buttoning
      Levi’s
     
     
      when
      they
      cornered
      her,
      closed
      in,
      with
      laughs
     
    

    
     
      like
      growls
      ofanimals.
      Whispered:
      Slut
      and
      whore
     
    

    
     
      and
      come
      on
      baby,
      fuck
      me.
      Their
      words,
      the
      forking
      tongue
     
     
      the
      fist
      in
      the
      face.
      Too
      frightened
      to
      scream,
     
    

    
     
      she
      was
      creature
      caught
      in
      headlights,
      Prey
     
    

    
     
      mesmerized
      by
      the
      serpent’s
      eye.
      No
      escaping
     
    

    
     
      the
      man-hard
      hands
      hooking
      for
      soft
      places
     
    

    
     
      of
      her
      body,
      thighs
      and
      breasts
      and
      vagina
     
    
   
   
    
     
      She
      tells
      this
      story.
      Says
      man
      and
      woman
      will
      never
     
     
      be
      equal
      because
      man
      will
      always
      be
      the
      stronger...
     
     
      she
      could
      not
      fight
      them.
      Will
      not
      let
      me
      hold
      her
     
    

    
     
      II
     
    
   
   
    
     
      I
      know
      women’s
      anger:
      I
      want
      to
      hunt
      the
      hunters
     
    
   
   
    
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
     
      take
      their
      heads
      off
      with
      old
      Reggie
      Jackson
     
     
      Little
      League
      bat.
      Want
      to
      trap
      them,
     
    

    
     
      stretch
      the
      fear
      out
      like
      a
      rubber
      band,
      snap
      it
     
     
      in
      their
      eyes
     
    
   
   
    
     
      I
      know
      women’s
      anger.
      But
      can
      they
      know
      my
      shame?
     
    

    
     
      My
      sex,
      my
      strength,
      become
      stiff
      fingers
     
    

    
     
      groping
      out
      of
      darkness.
      Become
      a
      young
      woman’s
     
    

    
     
      worst
      nightmare.
      I
      curse
      every
      man,
      I
      implicate
      myself
     
    

    
     
      in
      their
      crime,
      because
      I
      have
      watched
      pornographic
      movies
     
     
      because
      to
      have
      left
      the
      room
      would
      have
      meant
      losing
      face
     
     
      among
      brothers.
      Because
      I
      have
      been
      a
      man
      of
      wolfish
      eye
     
     
      Because
      I
      have
      looked
      at
      a
      woman
      and
      seen
      only
      the
      flesh
     
    
   
   
    
     
      In
      nightmares,
      I
      become
      those
      boys
      circling
      in
      woods
     
     
      violating
      other
      women
      their
      minds
      call
      whore,
     
     
      bruising
      finger
      marks
      in
      arms
      of
      wives.
     
    

    
     
      Iam
      too
      much
      my
      father’s
      son,
     
    

    
     
      too
      much
      every
      father’s
      son
     
    

    
     
      Pretending
      the
      rhetoric
      of
      feminism
     
    

    
     
      lying
      and
      believing
      myself
     
    

    
     
      In
      the
      pit
      of
      my
      nightmare
     
    

    
     
      I
      am
      just
      another
      cheap
      manipulator
     
    

    
     
      with
      designs
      on
      the
      woman
      I
      hold
     
    

    
     
      Just
      another
      patriarch
     
    

    
     
      thirsting
      head