Me Too! Poem by Mary Champion

'Can I help you ma'am? ' The kindly sergeant smiled
at the nervous young woman standing there with her child.
Not meeting his gaze, she said, 'I have to report
a dastardly crime. It was sexual assault.'
With gentle concern, he put her at ease,
'Just take a seat here, for a while, if you please.
'And I'll call upon one of our specialist team,
'to deal with your case. So, explain what you've seen.'

'I was sitting alone.
'I was minding my own,
'when one of his staff said that he'd chosen me,
'to have sex with that night. I had to agree.'

'But surely, you had every right to refuse.
'You could have said, No! What threat did he use? '

'Nothing right then. But I'd heard every day
'how he'd give you hell, if you didn't obey.'

'And what was your age at the time of the deed? '

'Only fourteen! That's rape - we're agreed.'

When she had told them the whole of her tale
they decided to charge him, denying him bail.
Abusing the almighty power he held,
he'd forced himself on to an innocent child.
Pregnant and panicked, she had been easy prey
to a dirty old man who had whisked her away.
Riding a donkey, the girl was conveyed,
to Bethlehem where she gave birth to the babe.