Walkin on Air
Triangulated Love
King Arthur certainly was idealized:
a myth, a legend not historical fact
the once and future king personified
in folklore and magical mystery
of honor, betrayal and iniquity;
life for the people, agriculture
in barter-based economy,
homespun tunic and trousers,
houses of wood and thatch
in post-Roman Britain
defending themselves
against the Angles and Saxons.
Arthur found guilty of treason
his queen, sentenced her to death
by burning at the stake.
Adultery was the reason
of Arthur's court's lying breath:
loyal love turned to fake!
Lancelot the rescuer
battled Arthur to utter ruin.
Did Gwen run away to Caerleon?
Who then was the crueler
Love or Lust, the magic of Merlin?
Meigle, Glastonbury or beyond?
A dragon great Kilgharrah was
Aithusa as his ward:
a tale of terror, love and pain,
King Arthur and the sword,
Excalibur, undead to slay,
from dragon's breath thus forged,
magic's fickle frailty
Merlin discover would,
when Uther swung the mighty blade
instead of him that should
handled have that weapon's power,
a doubt of trust became the sower.
Into the Lake of Avalon
by Merlin's hand the sword found way
only to return once again
Camelot to save on the day
when all was lost and Uther dead,
Excalibur cast in a stone
to protect Arthur and the throne
placing Albion's crown upon his head.
Dragon Lord Balinor
with mighty Kilgharrah
bequeathed an honor legacy
in spite of defeat by vile intent,
betrayal in a way most saucy:
twenty two years of imprisonment;
Great Purge the dragon thus endured
until by Merlin unfettered;
prophecy bespoke his destiny.
Arthur and Merlin antithesis,
two sides of the same coin;
Kilgharrah said, “I have lived
over a thousand years,
seen civilizations rise and fall.
Yet this combination eclipses them all!"
Kilgharrah spoke through riddles
but Merlin, though disturbed,
told him he overly niggles;
in fact he too betrayed:
the sorceress Nimueh refused
to take Merlin's life 'n thus delayed
the final confrontation
determining the fall
of the noble nation.
A young druid boy, Mordred,
Merlin as Emrys confuses
in fact his trust abuses
and after much love triangulation
Guenivire, Arthur and Lancelot
oblivious to their respective stations
open the portal to mortal 'finity:
the end has begun;
to kill Arthur who would be the one?
King Arthur, once more I ask,
who was he?
A real person or a folk tale,
a late Roman, a Celt; a king, a general,
or a guerrilla warrior
in the north of England:
who was he?
Guinevere who was she?
Elaine of Astolat, the Lady of Shalot,
who died of unrequited love for Lancelot?
Or perhaps she was Vivien the Entomber?
Mayhap Gwenhwyfar,
daughter of Gogfran the Giant,
Arthur's second wife or
a sharp murderous knife,
a noble lady with a Roman heritage
who betrays the King
by becoming Mordred's lover,
is that who?
Was Lancelot bravest knight of all,
most noble Camelot ever knew?
Dorochaled introduced that fall
where Lancelot met Merlin,
where vengeance and evil would spew
the venom of hatred and bitterness:
a love triangle of distress,
the empty place of 'end/begin'.
And so it was dear reader, hark!
This tale here told is but a spark:
ignition's launch with visions dire
whereby your own imagination's fire
can freely burn and inspire
tomorrow's youth from yester-years age
through words of a long bygone sage.
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Triangulated Love
Triangulated Love
