flattery will get you everywhere

i like that shirt

you're wearing she says.

touching the sleeve

as we prepare to go out

for the evening.

cotton?

hundred per cent,

i tell her,

and i ironed it myself.

nice, she

says,

you're so domesticated.

i tell her she looks lovely

in her pink dress,

with those legs you can

get away with a short

dress like that.

she smiles

demurely and says, oh you.

flattery will get

you everywhere.

we're in the early

stages of things, not one fight,

not yet.