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Maiden and Grail
-( Maiden and Grail )-
“Look on amongst the first of the things that you read,
And in the last five of three, therein is the truth buried!”
You wonder what secrets I hold; thus ask of yourself…
Do I truly wish to know, and learn what is forbidden?
Steady your nerves and prepare to cross the vast gulf,
Where the legend of the Holy Grail, has been hidden!
I once met a horse with two riders on an ivory saddle,
As I made my way through a wasteland seeking after…
Things of which secrecy has sewn shut forever my lips.
One of the riders slew a serpent that bore a gold rattle,
And the other spied a dragon coming from a far rafter…
The dragon passed to them the cup from which it sips.
I asked the riders if there was room upon their steed…
For one more pilgrim seeking things we sought as one.
They passed me the cup and bid me sip to fill my need,
And then I understood the meaning, of what was done.
The riders sped off across the sands lost in some haze,
Whilst I remained, cup in hand, to chart the emptiness.
I ventured thusly for hours that passed into many days,
Until I encountered a little girl: clad in a long red dress.
A pyramid in gold was etched upon her garment front,
Within which was an eye, which saw all mortal doings.
I bowed before her, and spoke of my quest ever blunt,
Knowing that she did not wish for silence or misgivings.
“The emerald that once was held by the cup incarnate…
Came to sit within the crown of Lucifer, glory to sate!”
No knight of the table round, I, but one of armor red…
To match the color of the girl’s attire, passing strangely.
Once, my armor was darker in color, but then I bled…
For I was wounded in spirit, and wandering aimlessly!
The child asked only that I follow her, and such I did…
Until the wasteland gave way, to a green grassy plain,
Where lay scattered about the bones of the long dead,
Their torments were lost to time; gone, was their pain.
And there the child asked me to hand her the fair cup,
Which had slaked my thirst when I was lost in a waste.
I did comply with her simple request, and gave it up…
Watching as she poured out the wine it held with haste.
The soil accepted that scarlet nectar, and drank deep,
Until those who were slain did rise again in living flesh!
Animals once so feared went calmly back to each den.
Red roses bloomed, wherever the liquid so did seep…
And at last the cup and the maid who bore it did mesh.
One blood, one form, one destiny born under Heaven!
The miracle of the transfiguration that I beheld sudden,
Left me speechless, before the majesty of the divine…
I knew then my eyes stared as my cheeks did redden,
Leaving me like unto a child in spirit, as reborn in time!
“The cup that is not a cup became free of the emerald,
As some said: the emerald is the Grail sent earthward!”
Suddenly, the blood of my armor was washed clean…
And it shone black as ebon night with streaks of white.
Only a sanguine cross, remained upon the front seen…
Thus marking me to my delight: of the temple, a knight.
Maiden and grail became a lady tall and fairest to see,
More beautiful: than any daughter of man born mortal.
For a time I came to know the joys of her company…
Until at the appointed hour, she crossed a rosy portal.
Thus did that holy vessel pass beyond simple telling…
Into the realm of legend from whence she did emerge.
To think that I had witnessed a miracle so compelling!
Such wonder filled me that it felt like unto a hot surge.
When all was finished, a golden eagle with two heads,
As large as a horse, the bird did pick me up and soar.
Arriving at a temple where I entered, hand on heart…
I entered a sanctum large enough for countless sheds,
And I met the two riders who toasted all I did before!
Merry, my journey was over as I had played my part.
Magnificent, I set my armor on a table there to rest…
Is the journey any less the truth, than our destination?
Grail knights are not born but made; put to their test.
Blood and light, entwined without any consternation!
“The emerald is not the Gail, and men seek in vanity,
Truth in deceptions, as the cup was lost to honesty!”
“Look on amongst the first of the things that you read,
And in the last five of three, therein is the truth buried!”
You wonder what secrets I hold; thus ask of yourself…
Do I truly wish to know, and learn what is forbidden?
Steady your nerves and prepare to cross the vast gulf,
Where the legend of the Holy Grail, has been hidden!
I once met a horse with two riders on an ivory saddle,
As I made my way through a wasteland seeking after…
Things of which secrecy has sewn shut forever my lips.
One of the riders slew a serpent that bore a gold rattle,
And the other spied a dragon coming from a far rafter…
The dragon passed to them the cup from which it sips.
I asked the riders if there was room upon their steed…
For one more pilgrim seeking things we sought as one.
They passed me the cup and bid me sip to fill my need,
And then I understood the meaning, of what was done.
The riders sped off across the sands lost in some haze,
Whilst I remained, cup in hand, to chart the emptiness.
I ventured thusly for hours that passed into many days,
Until I encountered a little girl: clad in a long red dress.
A pyramid in gold was etched upon her garment front,
Within which was an eye, which saw all mortal doings.
I bowed before her, and spoke of my quest ever blunt,
Knowing that she did not wish for silence or misgivings.
“The emerald that once was held by the cup incarnate…
Came to sit within the crown of Lucifer, glory to sate!”
No knight of the table round, I, but one of armor red…
To match the color of the girl’s attire, passing strangely.
Once, my armor was darker in color, but then I bled…
For I was wounded in spirit, and wandering aimlessly!
The child asked only that I follow her, and such I did…
Until the wasteland gave way, to a green grassy plain,
Where lay scattered about the bones of the long dead,
Their torments were lost to time; gone, was their pain.
And there the child asked me to hand her the fair cup,
Which had slaked my thirst when I was lost in a waste.
I did comply with her simple request, and gave it up…
Watching as she poured out the wine it held with haste.
The soil accepted that scarlet nectar, and drank deep,
Until those who were slain did rise again in living flesh!
Animals once so feared went calmly back to each den.
Red roses bloomed, wherever the liquid so did seep…
And at last the cup and the maid who bore it did mesh.
One blood, one form, one destiny born under Heaven!
The miracle of the transfiguration that I beheld sudden,
Left me speechless, before the majesty of the divine…
I knew then my eyes stared as my cheeks did redden,
Leaving me like unto a child in spirit, as reborn in time!
“The cup that is not a cup became free of the emerald,
As some said: the emerald is the Grail sent earthward!”
Suddenly, the blood of my armor was washed clean…
And it shone black as ebon night with streaks of white.
Only a sanguine cross, remained upon the front seen…
Thus marking me to my delight: of the temple, a knight.
Maiden and grail became a lady tall and fairest to see,
More beautiful: than any daughter of man born mortal.
For a time I came to know the joys of her company…
Until at the appointed hour, she crossed a rosy portal.
Thus did that holy vessel pass beyond simple telling…
Into the realm of legend from whence she did emerge.
To think that I had witnessed a miracle so compelling!
Such wonder filled me that it felt like unto a hot surge.
When all was finished, a golden eagle with two heads,
As large as a horse, the bird did pick me up and soar.
Arriving at a temple where I entered, hand on heart…
I entered a sanctum large enough for countless sheds,
And I met the two riders who toasted all I did before!
Merry, my journey was over as I had played my part.
Magnificent, I set my armor on a table there to rest…
Is the journey any less the truth, than our destination?
Grail knights are not born but made; put to their test.
Blood and light, entwined without any consternation!
“The emerald is not the Gail, and men seek in vanity,
Truth in deceptions, as the cup was lost to honesty!”
Published 21st Jan 2012
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