Classic Poem

Just think of it, Mind –
No one’s anything to anyone.

You’ve come back to this world
For nothing.

And for the few days of your life
They all call you master.

But they’ll drop that master soon enough
When the master of life and death shows up.

And will she who you worried yourself sick for,
Will she stick by you then?

The dear woman will sprinkly cow dung
To clear out the bad luck.

Shri Ramprasad says: When Death
Grabs you by the hair,
Call out: Kali, Kali –
Then what can He do?

[Translated by Leonard Nathan and Clinton Seely]