By October our sorrows have gathered for
revelation. It is something of a spectacle, yours
and hers and hers and his, our stories now numbers and digits — is
this really what she would have wanted? The
girls are weeping while the men still hold close the keys of their kingdom.
There is surely something to be said for the
bringing into light, for the scraping of power
from the skin of our bodies, and
from our wet hot hearts, the
beating of us, our glory.
The numbers, lower than estimated for
reasons of shame, are ever-
forgiven, washed down with cold beer and
chokes of forced understanding, ever-
forgotten by the first leaves of November, a
story for summer, maybe, but never for these men.
—
Note: The Clery Report is a federal statute requiring colleges to maintain and disclose crime statistics, especially those of sexual violence. It was named for Jeanne Clery, who was raped and murdered in Stoughton Hall at Lehigh University in 1986.
To Marvelous Light 