The Fool - V

This is a poem spread across multiple pages. Please read in order. Please click on links below to read the earlier passages from the poem.

The Fool - I.
The Fool - II.
The Fool - III.
The Fool - IV.

The actual Grail doesn’t matter in end
If one didn’t find one – one can always pretend
That it’s the journey that matters and not the goal
What if one had found the Grail – which then someone stole
Would that make the quest less worthy of a tale?
Or despite the lost Grail one would not fail
To praise the efforts that the fool undertook
Is it really his fault-if someone else took
The prize that was his- but which he failed to secure
Because he didn’t deceive-his heart was pure.
It’s not the prize that matters, its what one has suffered through
It’s just the story one tells- not what’s actually true-
That determines how one is perceived by others and self
One can always make up things– and that does help.

In creating a self-image that is positive and grand
That doesn’t get burdened with a world that’s bland
That needs to be confronted each day anew
Where failures are many and triumphs few.
One should frame a failure as a well-fought fight
Of a tunnel that’s dark-but at the end has light
Of having survived the failure as a triumph in itself
Of having kept one’s soul- of still being oneself-
As an achievement that is better than holding the Grail
One was true to oneself – one did not fail-
And sold to the Devil one’s soul in exchange
In the quest to be a winner – one did not change.
But remained the simpleton one had started with
Neither became a Faustian or a Mephistophelean myth.

It’s the simple nature, of the Fool that’s cute
One likes a hero like him, one wont substitute
A calculating and wicked man for him
Even if he could outsmart and easily win
Our Fool, yet we do not really care about the Grail
We want a simple, moving and honest tale
Not necessarily of victory or treasures to find
But of a hero valiant and also kind
Who loved and lost, yet loved again
Who could endure everything, who found the pain
Not as a curse to be avoided - that others gave
But as a blessing in disguise – that he would crave
To die once more from the hand that he loves
His heart only beats for the one he serves


And if she gives him pain, that is fine with him
What he remembers is Love- not the memories dim
Of the bad times together, of the mutual angst
He has left that beside; he just remembers that dance
Of their souls entwined in a passionate embrace
Of how he was fortunate enough to have the grace
Of Love in his life and how that gives him strength
To not lose faith- to go to any length
To serve the one who loved him so
To spread the love- to never hit low
Even if the love is unrequited or false
He has made a pledge- to not build walls
Around the ones he loves – he’ll set them free
He’ll suffer for himself- if there need be.

Hurt however he may be though,
The Fool wants this to everyone know
That he’ll love again, and this time too blind
He’ll love with his heart, not with his mind
Oh fool, he’ll just get duped again
For all his good – his efforts are vain
The quest for love is not an object to get
It is a journey, an artwork one needs to create
One cannot hope to find the Love outside
For true love one has to look inside
And make one worthy of the bride at large
And fill with sweetness one’s own heart
And love the other as one loves the Grail
And on thoughts of sacrifice not turn pale.