Rape Schedule

Bhavna Bhasin
Aug 9, 2017 · 2 min read
Picture by Archisman Misra

I am on a rape schedule
It’s after 10,
the city is receding,
street lights flickering,
A murmur of ‘go home’
is in the air,
Audible only
to my ear .

We had just started talking,
I was telling him why I chose
writing over practicing law,
‘That’s a bold move’ , he said
I quickly shut the phone screen
that said 5 missed calls

Now I’m not allowed contingencies
you see
If I said I would be back by 11
I should have been in bed by 10
Or planned all life events before 3
Because I am on a rape schedule

I know this could be a wonderful conversation, and we have only
just begun
But I’m tracing the map,
it’s forty minutes to home
Every passing second,
another potential rapist gets
added to the list of ways
in which a consequential,
highly avoidable fate is met
after a night of fun
So I have to go,
keep the shoe,
keep my share of the night sky too
Because I am on a rape schedule

My parents have already imagined
every possible horrendous thing that
could happen to me
Their anger is misplaced,
their logic faulty,
But can I complain
if in theory they believe in my freedom
But really just act out of concern for me?

I should be grateful for the sunny patch
that I’m allowed
For men who feel responsible for me
even though I’m better endowed
For
everyday that I follow the schedule
and
come
home
unraped.

Bhavna Bhasin

Bhavna Bhasin

Written by

Writer, Content & Brand Strategist, leaving poetry in the gaps between offensive policy & apathy. I live to offend and comfort, come find out where you fall.

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