I don't fancy Picturing you knee high in mud. Shivering with blankets up to your chin Drinking tea with a straw Asphyxiating to intoxication - that shluk of Brandy that goes with it. Sciaticizing, wheezing, managing the diet kitchen From bed. I am waiting for supper to "sup". And it's nasty outside. But not as nasty as the New Year's party I went to last week. I never had been present at a party with so Many "old maids" looking hungrily about them. Every time the bell rang, Scrawny necks stretched to see Who would open the door. Scrawny necks looked down into Scrawny laps and Thorny mouths voiced, "Oh, another girl!" And she joined the anxious waiting For the bell to present them with men! Some men did come,- Accompanied by females. Some males did come- But they were hardly men - Or so the "girls" spitefully said. It was a pleasant enough party, If you were interested in Doing a paper on "The Asocial Condition of the Unmarried Female Over the age of 26 In the city of Tel Aviv". Here was wonderful source material! I wasn't! So I left When I thought I could gracefully Walk out without hurting my hostess' feelings. I didn't have to worry about that! She walked out with me. We took a ride out to the beach at Herzeliah to get a bit of fresh air. The breeze was delightful, The smell of the sea so clean. Our steps rang happily along the walk And we forgot the many maidens waiting in the flat. Now I ask you, "Isn't kibbutz life better than that?"