Indian Princess Picks Out Lover From Gods - Ruth Padel

Thank God we cast
A spot of shadow in our lives,
 Said the Mahabharata bride,
Facing five versions of her groom -

Your man himself plus four male gods,
Four dead-spit images, self-xeroxed in his shape -
 Who recognised that heartbeat,
The man she'd have to part with

By the shadow at his heel. Gods don't go round
Casting shadow. Things we do and feel
 (As a leader in The Independent
Put it afterwards) are incomplete,
Imperfect, therefore real.