Arthur

 I don't understand either,

 Why people act the way they do.

 I even took a 21st century psychology class,

 But nothing was said about war,

 About why men fight.

 Merlin's adventures blessed you,

 Made you a happy boy

 Instead of a bastardized rebel,

 The way I was,

 The losses tearing down the years.

 You were stronger, and luckier

 To have found a mentor

 And a certificate of divinity,

 Your blood ordained by fate,

 A king worthy of the honor.

 Despite all that they treated you wrong,

 Betrayed you, slandered your name,

 Your son did not love you,

 The pain caught up, took you for a ride

 In later years, the opposite of my path

 (Hopefully),

 Disillusionment settled, a haunting familiarity

 That those who love you will hurt you most,

 Emotional unfairness

 Unexpected after all your service to Justice,

 Their actions unaccounted for,

 Their mercy unavailable

 For you, the noblest knight,

 Far nobler than the hero you supported.

 It finally took your death

 To discover the truth in Merlin's ghost,

 That youth was your only joy,

 Blocked by a moat surrounding

 Your castle of supremacy

 That overshadowed it.

 How hard you worked

 For nothing it seems,

 If no civil rights were gained,

 Only the legend of your honor,

 Generosity, strength, character,

 Aspiring thousands who came after,

 Including me, once blind to perseverance,

 Finally seeing

 How it is the greatest indicator of success,

 More than genius, talent, and even kindness.

 Rest easy, fair king,

 My king, if ever there was one,

 Only in fantasy.

 Where the great wonder that is boyhood

 Shines through both our eyes

 Connects us like a ribboned bookmark,

 Bridging my soul to yours

 Across the great divide of manhood.