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Barbara and the Restaurant Bill

Attempt to pay and she'll perform
a first rate actress, still in her prime
a histrionic scene: she'll not scream
though screaming comes easy, in her range

just some expletives, beautifully pronounced
a tossing of the bill upon the tablecloth
a threat to walk or do the dishes out the back.
The one who has the language always wins

she declaims, and kohled eyes flash
into the dark of the proscenium arch
where sighs lean forward to be bought
and like bouquets come winging back.