"The Mistress" despite the statements in R.M. Shanmugam's poetry 'dissecting' love into its stages as 'attraction', 'obsession', and 'attachment', and how it continues to perfection or aborts" itself on its way, love is torn into pieces in the days of lockdown. On the other hand, The Mistress, which is not essentially a book of love poems, but one on love, is a balm to the wounded heart, when the poet sprinkles his short poems as petals of a fragrant rose. 'Rain is love or love is rain', But Shanmugam feels the rain in love and love in the rain.