Oh Ma Kali, for a long time now

by Mahendranath Battacharya

English version by Rachel Fell McDermott
Original Language Bengali

Oh Ma Kali, for a long time now
          You've masqueraded in this world
          as a clown.
But I am punished inside
          and there's nothing funny about Your jokes.
Oh Ma, sometimes You're the air we breathe,
          sometimes the sky in the seventh underworld
          furthest away, and
sometimes the water in the sea
          You assume so many forms!
I have traveled to countless lands
and worn countless costumes; even so,
          Your marvels -- ha! -- never cease.

Premik says,
My mind is a cad; that's why it's sunk
in attachments. Why else
          would these tricks of Yours
               keep working?

-- from Singing to the Goddess: Poems to Kali and Uma from Bengal, Translated by Rachel Fell McDermott

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Oh Ma Kali, for a