Structured poetry, more recent poems at microburstspoetry.wordpress.com
I don’t believe in Heaven –
Nor do I believe in Hell –
But Some Where –
Some Time –
I know –
That we will meet again
01.01.96 – 07.03.96
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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…
It really leaves me feeling blue –
The thought that Time – perhaps –
Would not reverse itself
During the universe’s collapse –
I had really been looking forward to
Spending another lifetime with you
08.06.95 – 10.02.95
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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…
To me Thy heart is encased in stone
The extent of which’s thickness ’tis not known
But as thick as that stone box may be
I will never stop trying to get through to Thee
As poet I have but force of air
In spoken words from works I share
With which to wear away that wall
In other words not much at all
But as much time as that task may take
I will nevertheless the effort make
For with time even mountains
Can be eroded by the winds that blow
As deserts show
05.08.94 – 07.31.95
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This poem can be sung to a duet for piano and cello called ‘Les Cygnes’ (The Swan),
by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921).
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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…
Plenty are the number of guests
Occupying chambers in my heart –
Family, friends and the rest
Are how I divide them apart –
They occupy the three smallest chambers –
Leaving the largest one free –
That – dearest Love –
Is reserved for Thee –
Won’t Thou fill it with love for me?
06.26.95
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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…
To you, who move with graceful elegance…
To you, in the beautiful attire…
To you, with the seraphic appearance
That betrays a being who is higher…
Every time I am within your presence,
I slow down so that I can admire
Your mystique that holds me in reverence
And makes my heart melt like frost by fire.
Once immersed in your glowing radiance,
I stop to let your beauty inspire
Forth streams of passions of which’s sole essence
Is poets’ hearts melted by desire.
Oh, if only you were always near by,
There’d be proof that some streams never run dry.
03.20.95 – 03.28.95
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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…
In Thee, these features, five, my eyes they saw,
Count with me, in the mirror over there:
One set of star-filled eyes beyond compare.
View, too, the smile da Vinci could not draw,
Etched on the lovely face without a flaw.
The fourth, the long and flowing flaxen hair.
The fifth, the form dimensioned without err.
Heed this, my Love, Thou leavest me in awe!
Yea, I know that similar praise, and more,
Hath seen Thine eyes too many times before,
Except in mine is hidden what I mean,
As clouds hide rain that make the grasses green.
Read down the left, ere Thee and poem part,
The message lies in each line, at the start.
(I COVET THY HEART)
07.09.94 – 01.31.95
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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…
The fortune in my fortune cookie
On occasion of this Vietnamese New Year –
Said that in the coming year –
A wish which I have held dear
For some time would soon be fulfilled –
This Valentine’s Day –
I’ll once more be wishing for you –
I hope my fortune will soon come true!
01.29.95 – 01.30.95
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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…
I could compare you to a summer’s day,
Or, if you prefer, to a winter’s night.
I could compare you to how children play,
Or what they bring in pleasure and delight.
Perhaps your tastes prefer the sugars sweet,
Or would the feel of velvet touch you more?
Perhaps the sounds that hearts of lovers beat,
Or twinkling stars are stuff that you care for?
Pick any flower blooming in the spring,
Or any leaf that’s turning in the fall,
Pick stones of worth, bright rainbows, songs birds sing,
Or oceans, clouds – pick anything at all!
All lovely things I can compare you to,
But there’s not one that can compare to you.
08.10.94 – 01.11.95
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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…
Minh Tan's Old Poetry 