Melissa Christine Goodrum
footage
News: Day One
as a woman was raped, commuting train riders failed to intervene. police say
the crowded train car was near Philly & had several passengers aboard, but none called 911.
both the man and woman got on the train at the same stop on Wednesday.
News: Day Two
quickly sitting next to her, some train riders held up their phones. police say
he repeatedly tried to grope and touch the woman, like he knew her, one-on-one.
while the woman was raped, many commuting riders failed to intervene. police say
News: Day Three
he was homeless. he harassed her for more than forty minutes on the SEPTA subway.
& multiple people held up their phones, filming like fiery Saturn devouring his son.
both the man and woman got on the train at the same stop on Wednesday.
News: Day Four
police do not believe a single witness put themselves at risk; it’s all hearsay.
they were under no criminal obligation to intervene, as he ripped off her clothes, & it was done.
as the woman was raped, many watching riders failed to intervene, local police say.
News-Day Seven
while the nameless woman was sexually assaulted, the authorities became bent & went all astray.
disgusted officers pulled the erect man out of this woman at the last stop. this man was someone’s son.
as the woman was raped, silent train riders filmed & failed to intervene, police say.
both the man and woman boarded the train randomly, at the same stop, last Wednesday.
from inside the master’s house
after Audre Lorde
to look out the window
of my rented apartment
every time a siren sounds
& wonder, are they coming
for me?
to read the news of yet another
mass-shooting in a public place,
a supermarket this time,
& wonder, when
they are going to enact
psychiatric gun laws
to teach in a school
as many educators
lose their jobs
for the facts that come out
of their mouths
& wonder about longevity
& the first amendment
to be born female
at a time when
your choices & your bodily
rights are being negotiated
by a nation led
mostly by men
to be freely advised
by a street psychic
outside Saks
don’t share your secrets
within a circle of people
& wonder, does he know
i am poet?
to email your doctor
for a personal referral &
be answered negatively
by a nurse
who knows nothing
about you
to wear a mask on the train
& fear that the white man
with the swastika tattoo
& no mask
will assault you
for wearing one
to step onto the platform
& fear that the rocking man
who is talking to his knees
will push you onto the tracks
while four policemen
with no masks
text their loved ones
& drink coffee
melissa christine goodrum is the editor of four print anthologies and the author of two full-length poetry collections: definitions uprising (NY Quarterly Press) and something sweet & filled with blood (great weather for MEDIA). Her poetic experiences include Co-Editor of The Brooklyn Review, Co-President of the Cambridge Poetry Awards, Administrative Director of Bowery Arts & Science, Pushcart Nominee, and recipient of a Zora Neale Hurston Award from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University.