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From "Dragon Soup"
by Marge Simon & Mary Turzillo.
What Do Women Want
(Turzillo) I brought her treasures:
arm rings and torques and crowns of gold,
but she refused to wear them.
I melted them down into a bed with my breath,
and stuck the rubies and sapphires to the pillow
while the gold was still molten,
but she preferred to lie on the cold floor of the cave.
I sang to her, the best song I knew
but she covered her ears and screamed.
I sang louder, and she fled to the depths of the cavern.
I pretended sleep and she crept back,
so I sang again, a bit softer, songs of conquest,
of how much I loved maidens and most of all her.
But she huddled against the wall
and stared wild-eyed
as if I were a monster.
I brought her meat, nicely roasted
in its own metal shell,
but she only wept.
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