Stolen...Robbed

 I spent my whole life preparing.

Preparing to be a man, a husband, a father, a provider, protector, a bringer of security and prosperity.

I take this suit of armor, dressed ceremoniously by my queen mother,  and I swear my oath to my path of life.  My father anoints my shoulders with his sword and grants it to me as mine, a splendid farewell of hope to conquer the world.

I come into this new world armed with all I was taught, armor shiny and bright, sword sharp and at the ready, Philosophy swirling in my head, covered in dreams, so fresh I could taste their birth.

Yet, I told I'm not good enough, because my love left me.

My daughters are taken away from me because I cant have success, and them too.

I'm told I cant enjoy in my worth at work, because I'm black.

And no one cares about the man in the armor, because they just want what the armor provides.

They...still don't know my name.

My philosophies are now just the ramblings of a fool. My armor, heavy and useless. My sword, given to conquer the world, now just a toy, it cuts me more than it paves a way.  Who will I protect, who will I teach, who will I raise, who will I love.  This is all I know and none of it is wanted. 

Do I walk back to the gates of my home kingdom, no horse, no parade of wealth, head hung low? No feast, no gifts, un-poured wine, just disappointed faces burnt into my soul as I go to sleep on a quiet first night back.

Wandering a world which no longer wants me. Chasing fleeting dreams.  Where do I go now, what do I do? Shed my armor, hide my sword, become...like them...hide my tears under their expectations?  Betray my soul and all I know? Hands that were willing to work, now just hanging by my side as my abandoned heart can't hold them up any more.  Stolen...robbed.