Mistress Mine
Friday 19th March 1999, North Sea
Working in the Shell Merlin field on the Seaway Eagle one of the Polish girls, Anna, was on her first trip to sea and she did not like it. She was asking me what the attraction was when I would spend so long away at sea. She related to me how her father had recently taken up some work at sea and was loving it, like he had found something he should have done long ago. I tried to explain that the sea is ever changing and full of character but always constant, mostly predictable but occasionally takes you by surprise. Thinking on this later while watching the waves in near gale conditions I related to the sea as a woman, a common metaphor, and as a mistress. The last stanza’s in each part are familiar and may have been expressed in similar terms by poets and songwriters through the ages.
Softly she sleeps
In that placid place
And not a movement
Betrays her face
In absolute peace reposed
Her many moods withheld from show
Quiet and calm, though well I know
The fire of life she can let go
And even so she is, my lover and my wife
Always she will be, my mistress and my life
Waking stretches
Lights a smile
A little grin
A winking eye
I watch the beauty of her form
Soft skin moves to arms reaching
Velvet touch after her sleeping
A light caress as shadows creeping
And even so she is, my lover and my wife
Always she will be, my mistress and my life
Sullen and flighty
A petulant stance
This way and that
As if in a dance
Uncertain of her wants, her needs
Though there is no anger here
As her flighty mood may first appear
She’s just upset, with a little care
And even so she is, my lover and my wife
Always she will be, my mistress and my life
Bounding happy
A joyful face
Leaps and spins
In laughing grace
To a cheerful tune she skips along
Her dress flies out as she dances round
And occasionally petticoats are found
Flashing white and green her gown
And even so she is, my lover and my wife
Always she will be, my mistress and my life
When at last
Her temper flares
With shouts and shrieks
And flashing stares
She vents her spleen on all around
If you don’t know her you may fear
As she flails and shakes her hair
She’ll cast you down without a care
And even so she is, my lover and my wife
Always she will be, my mistress and my life
Calmer now
No angry face
She settles down
To lovely grace
Still breathing deep her heaving breast
She waltzes past and all the while
Moves about with a secret smile
As if to say I’m not really wild
And even so she is, my lover and my wife
Always she will be, my mistress and my life
Her many moods
And changing pace
Her wild abandonment
And grace
Always different yet always the same
She holds my heart, commands respect
In all her moods her beauty reflects
And my life I give without regret
Because to me she is, my lover and my wife
Always she will be, my mistress and my life