**MERCENARIES! <br /> <br />We are like mercenaries of olden days, <br />Selling ourselves to the highest bidder, - <br />without complain! <br />Be it in love, in a marriage, or for a job; <br />Even in friendship we look for profit and <br />gain! <br />We have lost that sense of ‘shame’! <br />We no longer succumb to any tender feelings <br />or foolish sentiments! <br />We are cold and calculating tracking the <br />shares and stocks, <br />As ultra realist and materialists we try to be <br />in step, - <br />Keeping up with the Joneses next door - <br />and the world of date! <br />And as for our soul, like Dr Faustus*, - <br />Seeking all the pleasures of this world and <br />fair Helen’s lips, <br />We have bartered our soul - for Beelzebub+ <br />to keep! <br />And as we swim between the Devil and the deep <br />sea, - <br />Our short-term possessions becomes his+ ever- <br />lasting gain you see? ! ! ! <br /> -Raj Nandy <br /> New Delhi <br /> 05 May 09 <br />(*In Christopher Marlow’s ‘Dr Faustus’, the <br />Doc. sells his soul to the Devil+, in exchange <br />for all the earthly pleasures! There is a beautiful <br />poetic reference to Helen of Troy there!)<br /><br />RAJ NANDY<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mercenaries-2/
