a compromising venue, he surmised,
offering her a wholly shellfish menu,
the none-too-subtle proposition - here,
i will peel prawns for you, open oysters,
crack crustaceans, muscle open mussels
to tease out sea-sweet, freshly shell-shucked flesh.
for after all, men take the softest
pleasures in the taking off.

she noted, though, his intent to unclothe
and opted for a course of more restraint,
requiring less hands-on, practical:
soft-shelled crab, cereal-crusted butter prawns,
fish, skin-on, fried gingerly in soy.
as women have assessed,
some things work better dressed.