Strange are the decrees of fate. <br /> <br />Behold the large eyes of the deer! <br />Yet he is forced to roam the forests. <br /> <br />The harsh crane has brilliant plumage, <br />While the sweet-voiced cuckoo is black. <br /> <br />The rivers flow in pure streams, <br />But the sea makes them salt. <br /> <br />Fools sit on thrones as kings, <br />While the wise beg their bread. <br /> <br />Mira's lord is the courtly Giridhara: <br />The king persecutes the Bhaktas. <br /> <br />[From 'The devotional poems of Mirabai' and translated by A.J. Alston]<br /><br />Mirabai<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/strange-are-the-decrees-of-fate/
