My mistress has a heart and a set of eyes
That beckon my attention –
Whilst they – in truth – advise
That I should stay away if I am wise –
Her heart is a beacon in the night –
Whilst her eyes are beacons in the light
02.09.95 – 03.01.95
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Copyright by Minh Tan on listed dated of completion
and published in Perspectives, ISBN 0-9686250-0-2.
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Notes to this poem…
A little metaphorical poem warning against the dangers of “mistressism”, and what better metaphor than an item that warns of danger itself, a beacon? While most beacons at night are still of the light variety, like a lighthouse, there are some that operate by sound or similar concepts thereof, including sonar. With the mistress, I’m talking about her heartbeart as she lies close for the night beacon, and for the day, sparkling eyes that, at least for me, are the first thing that attracts me to a woman.
For the record, I’ve never had a mistress. Hell, I have trouble getting dates as it is, never mind mistresses. Odds are, I won’t ever have or have to contend with the issue, either, from that and my virtuous self to not hurt the one I love. Theoretically, I can even tell you that if I ever felt I no longer loved the one I’m with and had a possible mistress option, I’d break it up with the one I love before pursuing someone else before I’d ever pursue the potential mistress, declassifying her from mistress status. I know for some women, that takes the allure out of it then, but they can then pursue someone else in that manner. I think mistresses are interesting and even sometimes sexy to read about, given I have a book called A History of Mistresses by Elizabeth Abbott. However, that very much depends the characters involved and their situation, but I don’t think most often, it’s not nearly as sexy in life. We just get to read about the very best of the situation or we hear about it through disgusting scandals.
The O-series of poems are one stanza poems composed before I got onto writing haiku and tanka, and short poetry while in action or traveling by select means like plane or ferry. These poems are 3-9 lines long with at least one rhyming couplet, and not of the short forms just mentioned. For the sake of elegance, I just called the collection One.
Minh Tan's Old Poetry 
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