Sweat that perspires,
blood that bleeds,
tears in eyes.
Hungry mouths at home,
for this hour’s meals.
They were not toiling for money.
     da Vinci’s Monalisa
     Michaelangelo’s David
     Picasso’s Three Magicians-
     Bearing the fruits of labour
     They were not toiling for money.
With eyes of an eagle
and heart of a lion.
With arms of steel,
and precision of a archer
threadbaring life and death
Surgeons playing God.
They were not toiling only for money.
     Her whims, her sighs
     His oaths, his promises
     Their joy, their pain, their ecstasies…
     Can we ever dare suspect that
     Romeo and Juliet were emoting
     the Bard’s words just for money?
But the paradox is that
     before talking such nonsense
     earn millions and millions
     of pounds and pence!!