I took the home girl for a date.

She ate the seafood platter.

I sucked raw oysters from my plate,

As she maintained her chatter.

While sipping on my second drink,

A spicy Bloody Mary,

She read my mind as I did think,

While she munched on a cherry.

Retreating to my garden home,

I carried my new treasure.

As Sabine women went to Rome,

To yield a night of pleasure.

Throughout the night, the wild thing screamed,

Her ho moans growing stronger.

No telling what the neighbors dreamed,

As slow time measured longer.

Till came the knock an hour later,

When there stood men in suits of blue.

They asked about the raucous matter.

I said the fun was through.

But thinking of that solstice night,

That rude wake by the heat,

I’m glad my stash was out of sight,

Else my tail would be meat.

end

Mr. E. Bates is a poet who likens the quest for love to a foxhunt, in which it is the chase and not the kill that appeals.