Easter Fool
I thought
to be a wise man so
I gazed
into the Word,
But in
its looking-glass I found
A world
that seemed absurd.
Where
poor are rich, and rich are poor,
The laws
of life reversed,
The
humble rule, and what is more,
The last
may finish first.
Where
economic counselling
Is often
sought from birds,
Where
flowers offer fashion tips,
And folks
are fed on words.
Where
faith can make a mountain leap,
And
beggars fill the feast,
Where
happiest are those who weep,
And lords
will scrub your feet.
Preoccupied
with paradox,
I didn’t
notice when
The mirror’s
silvered surface flipped
And I was
taken in.
I landed
in that Land of Fools
In time
to see their king
Swing
into town upon a mule
And spark
an Arab Spring.
He
visited the Holy Church
But, seemingly
compelled,
He
rearranged the furniture –
Which
didn’t go down well.
He said
to love your enemies,
Which
possibly explains
Just why
he made them with such ease,
And had
so few close friends.
He was
the greatest Fool of all,
The
crowds were gathered by,
And when
they asked him how to live,
He said
they first must die.
They
asked him for morality,
He told
them to believe;
They
asked for immortality,
He told
them “Take, and eat.”
But
eating flesh and drinking blood
Was greeted
with distaste;
Some
wondered if they understood,
But more
decamped with haste.
The Fool
knew well his foes were close
Yet all good
sense he spurned,
All
compromise he quite despised,
No
bridges left unburned.
He was so
hopelessly naïve,
Yet
looked so self-controlled;
He really
did seem to believe
That Love
would conquer all.
The finest
minds in all the land
Conspired
to put him down,
The
Church and State worked hand in hand
To end
this awkward clown.
The
people proved quite pliable
With well-timed,
trashy Tweets,
And malcontents
reliable
For
midnight meet-and-greets.
So all
the courts were kangarooed,
The
guv’nor stamped the forms;
The Fool
was booed, paraded nude,
And
crowned with cruel thorns.
The
soldiers hoisted him above,
Upon a
wooden throne,
And all
the brothers he had loved
Now left
him quite alone.
His
honour guard were common thieves,
His
courtiers sneered and jeered,
As all
the darkness in the world
Was thereabouts
congealed.
Like some
perverted puppet show,
A vision
to appal;
Yet as he
viewed the mob below,
The Fool
forgave them all.
Then
Death clocked in, to end the play,
Cocking his
constant grin,
He didn’t
know that in three days
The joke
would be on him.
For, yes,
the Fool had fooled them all
By simply
speaking true:
The gathered
wisdom of the world
Had not a
single clue.
For Love
can never be denied
For Love
is its own Law;
When Love
became a Fool and died,
He blew
off Heaven’s door.
Now any
fool can get inside,
The
rednecks and the scum,
But those
who wear a shred of pride
Won’t
ever feel at home.
I thought
to be a wise man, but
The Fool
rewrote the rules,
If I’m a
fool to follow Him,
I’d
rather be a fool.
Fili (Phil Clarke), Easter 2018
