Deaf to Poetry

Image credit: Ashanti: Anthony Mandler/Corbis Outline

POETRY IN MOTION Ashanti waxes poetic and reflects on love in ''Foolish''

Following in the esteemed literary tradition of Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, and, uh, Jewel Kilcher, R&B star Ashanti just published ''Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love'' (Hyperion, $16.95), a compilation of poems and essays imparting the vast wisdom of her 22 years. Guess which excerpt is not in the book.

A
''11:30 has come and gone/and still no call from you/Why did you have me waiting here/if you weren't coming through?/I couldn't fall asleep that night/and you came by around 3:00/You said 'Baby, I'm sorry, I should/have called. The guys took me out./It just wasn't my fault.''' (From ''No Excuses'')

B
''We were all so embarrassed to pull up at the high school in that nasty, nasty limo. But we all looked cute, and we took a lot of pictures. We danced and ate. We had a good time that night.'' (From ''At my junior prom, my friend had a boyfriend whose uncle owned a limo service'')

C
''He always told me/I looked cute in my shorts/He would watch how I walked/and he would speak out his thoughts'' (From ''Watch Me Glisten'')

D
''They manipulate and they lie. And they try to make something seem like one thing when it's really not that. That really takes the cake for me!'' (From ''There are so many bad things that guys do'')

E
''I can't help it if I kind of want to flirt/And I can't help it if he's looking up my skirt/and I'm not mad because I'm only having fun/You see, I can't bring my man to the club'' (From ''To the Club'')

ANSWER They're all real! Now don't you feel foolish?