rape
By Patti Smith
yum yum the stars are out. I'll never forget how you
smelled that night. like cheddar cheese melting
under fluorescent light. like a day-old rainbow fish.
what a dish. gotta lick my lips. gotta dream I day-
dream. thorozine brain cloud. rain rain comes com-
ing down.
all over her. there she is on the hill. pale as a posy.
getting soaking wet. hope her petticoats shrink.
well little shepherd girl your gonna kingdom come.
looking so clean. the guardian of every little lamb.
well beep beep sheep I'm moving in.
I'm gonna peep in bo's bodice. lay down darling don't
be modest let me slip my hand in. ohhh that's soft
that's nice that's not used up. ohhh don't cry. wet
what's wet? oh that. heh heh. that's just the rain
lambie pie. now don't squirm. let me put my rubber
on. I'm a wolf in a lamb skin trojan. ohh yeah that's
hard that's good. now don't tighten up. open up be-
bop. lift that little butt up. ummm open wider be-bop.
come on. nothing. can. stop me. now. ohhh ahhh.
isn't that good. my. melancholy be-bop.
Oh don't cry. come on get up. let's dance in the grass.
let's cut a rug let's jitterbug. roll those tiny white
stockings down. bobby sock-o let's flow. come on this
is a dance contest. under the stars, let's alice in the
grass.
let's swing betty boop hoop
let's birdland let's stroll
let's rock let's roll
let's whalebone let's go
let's deodorize the night.
Copyright Credit: Patti Smith, "rape" from Early Work 1970-1979. Copyright © 1994 by Patti Smith. Used by permission of the author and W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. This selection may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Source: EARLY WORK: 1970-1979 (W. W. Norton and Company Inc., 1994)