Like Nothing Ever Happened
(The Universe is in your Hands Edit)
Janet Kuypers
2/8/24
from the 10/16/18 poem Like Nothing Ever Happened
A grand jury in Waco, Texas
found enough evidence
in the case against a man
indicted on four counts
of sexual assault
to send the case to trial.
Now, usually,
when a grand jury sends a case to trial,
that usually means there’s enough evidence
to convict.
But I just heard on the news
that instead, he pled
no contest
to one charge of unlawful restraint
in return for the dismissal
of four charges of sexual assault.
With this plea
from this fraternity president rapist,
who had nothing to offer the state
in a plea deal, he gets this lower charge
in exchange for... counseling,
a $400 fine
(which is less than the fine
for leaving a disabled car to get help),
plus three years of probation.
Added bonus,
if he stays clean until probation’s over,
his record would be expunged.
This means he wouldn’t have to
register as a sex offender —
it would be like nothing ever happened.
This woman was repeatedly raped,
strangled, and left for dead
face down in the dirt.
She was brought to the hospital,
where they called the police.
There’s an enormous amount of evidence.
A conviction is almost sure.
Four counts of sexual assault.
And they treat it like nothing ever happened.
Women thin we’ve shattered the glass ceiling,
but we still have to shatter the mentality
that woman are objects and rape is not a crime.
We try to plead our case,
but nothing ever happens.
Maybe we women have to shatter more than ceilings,
but also men’s mentality.
Maybe we should
even shatter a few of your bones,
the way you shatter our souls
with every act of rape.
Shattering your bones
would not even cross the line
you rapists cross
with your misogyny and violence.
Is that what we’re left with?
Is that what we have to do?
Should we start to get down
as low as you
to start to try to even the score?
If we’re so equal,
is it not our turn
to exact our revenge?
(Former Baylor University Phi Delta Theta president and student
Jacob Walter Anderson was arrested and charged with sexual assault in 2016.)
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