The Venus View

I really have to lose
some weight,
she says;

and he replies
you dont have to.

no, i really do,
just look at my arms
so thick
she says, making
a face;

no, says he,
you are in fact thin
slim as a stick.

naah, you lie,
you always lie,
you are a liar, says she;

(pauses)

my thighs are so fat,
        I know I have been overeating,
says she
her eyes closing that conversation;

He will be turning fifty soon
but is still no wiser;
‘what is it about women’,
he wonders,
as he listens to his niece

who just turned eleven.