The Fool- VIII

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.

But peace is what drives him- propels him towards his quest;
Only after the fighting is over, can he rightfully rest,
This fight is a curse- a personal cross he has to bear,
Only after it ends and there is no fear,
In the minds of anyone, can one talk about the grail,
Before ending the war, one cannot move the tale
The fight is not for the grail, the war is not about power,
It is not about the future- it’s the need of the hour,
Whether one lives in terror, and succumbs to hate,
Or whether one lights a candle for love – even if a bit late
Whether one fights for what is right, whether one fights with all might
Whether one can burn like a beacon in the stormy night
And by the morning might be finished, but would have made it bearable,
Offered a ray of hope in the darkness- and turned the table.

Over those who thought that hate would win over love,
Ravens and vultures would win over flowers and dove,
That one would forget about the grail, about quests of peacetime
And only indulge in war mongering – commit the shocking crime
Of not caring about the means of how to achieve the noble end
Of living in peace – but only concerned with the trend
Of rising terror and how that can be cured by a war
By eliminating the enemy how one can open the door
To a peace that lasts – as the enemy is now gone
But is the enemy some persons – or a single lone
Greedy and hateful individual- or is it more the case
That greed and hate that can find a place
In anyone’s heart and lead to a war within,
Or will one worry about the means – through thick and thin.

And only target the hate and greed that burns within,
Not a person or a group, but the culture that tries to win
At any cost- for whom winning is everything
And ones group is supreme-and the supreme king
Who wins the grail has to be from ones group
And to reach this end one can to any level stoop
It is this ideology of winning, of greed and hate
That needs to be countered- that is the Fools fate
He first needs to fight those driven by hate and greed,
The grail is not important for now- this hour’s need
Is to establish the parameters on which this quest would be run
Whether it would be love that drives him forward – or is it some
Secret Hatred and greed that makes him embrace his cross
If he doesn’t win the battle within – it would be an immense loss.


For he may end up winning the grail,
But in his mission he would surely fail,
Without love as his only weapon he would disgrace the cause,
The quest is not about the grail- he needs to pause
and think once and for all his priorities in life-
is it winning the grail, glorifying the quest , or a duty to his wife
is it to prevent wars and strife and to usher in a peace that would last,
or is it to open the heart of people to Love whose power is great and vast
and which can rejuvenate and heal in ways that the grail cannot
or is it about the journey , about reaching what one had sought
or is it about fulfilling ones destiny- becoming what one was fated to be
or is it about the confusion of life – about finding a meaning a key,
or is it about himself and what is really dear to him
or is it about the state of the world- is he a servant of its whim

Is he merely responding to his world, to the passing troop of knights,
or is he fighting for what he believes in- for his and others rights
to a life that is fulfilling, that can drink from the grail
that can be productive and happy – like in a fairy tale
that can heal its injuries and drink to the brim
that deserves to be joyous and not some grim
affair that has to be endured or livid with shame
that drinks from the source from which all life came.
He needs to think this through and justify the motive for quest
but his decision has been made- its just a post hoc rationalization at best
and whatever reasons he may give for his impending step,
we would be fools to take it on face value- we need some help
about what he feels as he finally takes that crucial step-
is it elation and joy, or despair and death.