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 Fool - V.
The Fool - VI.
The Fool - VII.
The Fool - VIII.
The Fool - IX.
The Fool - X.
The Fool - XI.
The Fool-XII.
The Magician-I.
The Magician -II
While helping the Fool, the Magician found himself,
emboldened in his craft, drunk on power and pelf,
more calm, more composed, more sure of his plan,
he ventured forth to guide the Fool and his clan.
If this Fool be lost, there's no dearth of others,
to keep sacrificing for king, is the dream of mothers,
so nudge the Fool to try and jump again from the cliff
not caring if his neck from the earlier attempt is still stiff.
If this Fool wouldn’t stay and remain hooked to the Grail,
by finding another Fool, will the magician technically fail?
Is it the quest that's important, or to restore the Fool,
where does Magician’s power lie- he’s blowing hot and cool,
vacillating whether to take a brand new Fool under his wing,
Or to work with the Fool he has, and in him some sense bring.
For the Fool is disheartened, distraught and dismembered,
Its easy to see, without the Magician his days are numbered,
But how can the Magician breathe life into this almost near-death corpse,
he himself has learnt only a week back, how from caterpillar to morph
into a beautiful butterfly that can fly and spread its wings wide and far,
and bring smiles to others forgetting the pain of that birth hour.
for the rebirth he experienced made the Magician a man of note,
and many fools started lining up to morph, making him much sought.
But having experienced the magic, is not the same as being good at it,
The Magician is still not there, how to heal the Fool, he knows not a bit.
He can try lame things like making the Fool see the Grail,
and delude the Fool into believing the old Wives tale.
The tale that only a Fool with a heart of gold,
can jump from the cliff again, be that bold.
But if the Fool never jumps again, how will he know,
whether Magician has healed him, he is raring to go,
not the Fool, but the Magician, for he has no skin in the game
if the Fool dies in the second attempt, it will be like someone came
and tried and died, but no big deal, we are all good
The fool was not the One, maybe another Fool could
accomplish with the Magician’s help what this one couldn’t
for this fool was either too bold, or too cautious, too prudent.
In either case, the defect lies with the Fool and his broken neck,
Not with the Magician or his craft or his ability to check
whether the Fool was ready once more, rejuvenated and upskilled
the second attempt may call for all he has got- this time he can get killed.
Does the Magician doesn’t care, or is he naive to think he can train
the Fool is still in the doldrums, how will he steer the winds and the rain?
For this time around, even the weather doesn’t look nice,
what does the fool care, he is ready to pay the price
price for his arrogance that he can heal a Fool in a week,
price for his naivety in believing that the Fool is not weak.
If the Fool doesn’t fly this time, people will ridicule and mock,
and if the Fool dies while jumping, the Magician will have to take stock
as to whether he will have any reputation left behind which he can hide
with the Fools death is tied the Magician’s fate, oh, the stars collide.
Let the second step be taken, let the Fool try again,
If he fares better this time, it will be our story’s gain.
The Fool meanwhile has quietly observed how the Magician tricks and treats,
and gently started believing in himself - to fake it till it beats.
His heart beats for the king, the grail, the quest, the end of war,
he will just believe that he can fly and spread his wings and soar.
He may be sick, he may be weak, but he can conjure a dream,
while falling down he will ensure, to fall along a stream,
Not on the rocks that crush your bones, and dreams that go along it,
he’s learnt a lot about how to land, he’s not afraid to go for it.
This do or die, this wretched life, and glory just beyond it
he’s rolled his sleeves, to trick you into believing that he will wing it
He owes this power to his mentor, the Magician who made him deluded
and believed in the impossible, lived that dream, as they both connived and colluded
No magic seems strange or odd, once you know how it works,
the demon is not in the far off lands, somewhere nearby it lurks.
to slay the dragon, to get the grail, is the mission The Fool has internalized
he is ready to go his way again, not aware what the Magician for him has devised.
The magician has some devious plans, to bask in reflected glory
But alas the Fool that he is, he will, believe in this concocted story.
