Great Men and Women

A little old lady eating an egg

With a cup of tea after getting out of bed

Must use her mind in some new way

Drifting through the dreams of yesterday

Once she was great, or so they say

Great men and women are not here to stay

They come and they go as the tides of the sea

And who will dare to judge their legacy?

I have no creed, no flag to fly

Men of great deeds all had to die

Return as naked as they were born

Their monuments left to stand the test of time

Great men, they say, have walked this earth

Great women too, or so I have heard

Leaders, thinkers, politicians

Poets, artists, writers and musicians

Breakfast is finished, the paper not read

Milk on the table but why not go back to bed?

Just out of habit, she washes up the cup

And rubs the stains of the egg from her skirt