"WHY WON'T YOU TALK TO ME?"

she asked,
one day.
I'd been ducking her
since the moment
I saw her working
next to me.
"You're too beautiful,
I replied,
"too young.
& I'm afraid
I'll say something
stupid
or foolish--
sound ridiculous,
or look like a horse's ass."
Her eyes
lowered.
She blushed.
Then smiled.

It takes a lifetime
of experience
with the woman
to know exactly
what to say...
and when.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2014