never tell a woman you don't like the smell of tuna
or that you don't like to get your
mouth messy when eating fruit
--she's liable to understand
something about you you haven't told her yet
she's liable to take it personally

never tell a woman you don't like the feel of velvet
or the plushness of a great pillow
or the feel of silk
unless you want to live your days out
without a woman
but you wouldn't do that knowing YOU
and i KNOW you

tell a woman instead
that you like to lick your fingers after a good meal
and that you love way a baby plays with its bottle
and that you love to pet cats
because their hair is so soft

tell a woman instead
that you want to lie naked in a bed full of satin sheets and pillows all around

and that you would
prefer it
to almost anything in the world
except the smell of tuna
of course.

Kristi Sprinkle remains a fascination to her cats and that 'strange woman' to her neighbors. If anyone should meet her on the street, they should call her 'Countess' and be glad that she hasn't stared them into oblivion. Otherwise, the rules for quirky writers apply. She rests comfortably in her aptitude for insanity in Austin, Texas.

SINCE June 3, 2001 YOU ARE UPPITY VISITOR NUMBER 1708