1.
the fool remakes himself
into a bard
and no one laughs when
he says this out loud
because a crying fool
brings only melancholy and misery
and as for the bard?
well, the bard feels foolish
about so many things
the question still stands
begging for an answer
if loving you
was one of those foolish things
still, the bard would like to think
he understands what falling in love is like
if only from an artistic standpoint
like the poet to the muse
after all, hearts can’t be reasoned with
and this bard has made quite
a career out of being maudlin
welcomes fits of melancholy with open arms
knowing that a good ballad
a misguided declaration of love
is impossible to write without
have a good cry while doing it
2.
and sometimes there is
so much hurt in those tears
that if feels like anger
but the bard does not know
who it is directed at
and does that really matter?
for, while the anger of a poet
runs deeper than blood and bone
the love of a poet is
an infinite thing
maybe not a thing to say aloud
though, what is a bard without
the sweetness of his voice?
fingers tenderly plucking
at his own heartstrings
pulled taut again and again
nothing as poetic as that will
eventually break
even if the bard tries his
damndest to shatter knuckles
against his growing loneliness
because, sometimes, the truth
is saying that you’ve made him
cry and meaning it
when he confesses to missing
being no more than a fool
what does a fool know of love?
of heartbreak
of empty bottles
and emptier promises
the fool knows nothing at all
and the bard would like that back,
so tired of collecting the coins
made from making a broken heart
sound like such a beautiful thing