Thieving Seraph

In her – I had a piece of Heaven –
Before my time for Heaven had come –
But a jealous Seraph in Heaven
Took her away and left my heart numb

Of all the maidens the eyes could see –
Something special she must be
To force a Seraph to steal her so He
Could claim her for His company!

Disregarding woes caused unto me!

07.05.95 – 07.08.95

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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…

This poem contained the original idea for the one that ultimately became one stanza poem 054 that was completed the day before this one. I was thinking of how to write about the death of a girl I knew using a metaphor and the original idea was this, to talk about it as if a seraph had wanted her for himself in his heavenly realm. My hesitation about it? Mixing desire with death. That didn’t seem quite right, and that hesitation to search for another metaphor was what led to the God picking flowers metaphor in one stanza poem 054, which I thought was more noble and less loaded.

But then I recalled the story of Lucifer, the archangel which sought to make his throne higher in the clouds and was banished to become Satan, or a demon, depending on your choice of mythology. If archangels had it in them to do evil deeds, then why not go through with the original idea of one desiring an earthly beauty so much he’d kill her off to have her in his realm? Thus arose this poem.

The rest of it, though, was as false as the mythology relied upon for the metaphor. The girl wasn’t mine. In fact, I hardly even knew her that, as said in the notes for one stanza poem 054, I don’t even remember 13 years later. The subject was really someone I had known of but had little connection other than that. And she was definitely not anywhere near the beauty suggested in this poem. I don’t forget people I think so beautiful any time soon yet.

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