Arab Mistress Messalina [updated] Here
Think of Mata Hari (exoticized as "Oriental"), the fictional courtesans in The Sheik (E.M. Hull, 1919), or the countless Hollywood films where a veiled Arab woman seduces a Western hero. She is defined by:
She teaches him the language of amulet and wine, how empire trembles at a touch, a sign. Messalina, in borrowed exile and gown, trades crowns for kisses, lets the world look down. Arab mistress messalina
Think of Mata Hari (exoticized as "Oriental"), the fictional courtesans in The Sheik (E.M. Hull, 1919), or the countless Hollywood films where a veiled Arab woman seduces a Western hero. She is defined by:
She teaches him the language of amulet and wine, how empire trembles at a touch, a sign. Messalina, in borrowed exile and gown, trades crowns for kisses, lets the world look down.