The Rape Kit

As her perp comes up for parole, witness tw recalls the objects he brought to the assault. She tracks rape as a signature crime of US history and Western Civ and tests the (often underwater) escape routes offered by sources personal, mythic, and geologic. Whatever else can be said of her attempts, she joins a hyphenated line of women who must angle through and over their own raped bodies to note what lies down with the language of violence. In the process she assembles her own rape kit/ evidence bag, climbs through various holes in the text, and names some perps.   Terri Witek is the author of six books of poems, most recently THE RAPE KIT (Slope Editions, 2018). Her work has been included in American Poetry Review, Poetry, Slate, Hudson Review , and many other journals and anthologies. Her poetry often traces the breakages between words and images: she has collaborated with Brazilian visual artist Cyriaco Lopes (cyriacolopes) since 2005. Their works together include gallery shows, video, performance and site-specific projects--these have been featured internationally in New York, Seoul, Miami, Lisbon, and Rio de Janeiro. Collaborations with digital artist Matt Roberts (mattroberts) use augmented reality technology for smart phones to poetically map cities and have been featured in Matanza (Colombia), Lisbon, Glasgow, Vancouver, and Miami. With Lopes she team-teaches Poetry in the Expanded Field in Stetson University's low- residency MFA of the Americas, and she also runs Stetson's undergraduate creative writing program, where she holds the Sullivan Chair.