On Provoking A Victor Poem by Tyler Chambers

Once a prodigy, now despondent.
How does such a transition come to pass?
The crown that has awaited him all his life corrodes in rust with each passing season.
Potential is diluted and the spectators all shake their heads in disappointment.
If only they realized that he's just a product of their own behavior.
Maybe then they would acknowledge that the expectations were doomed from breath one.

Let it be known that he doesn't even want the throne.
He's perfectly content while another is seated; in fact, he's comforted with the knowledge that that's the way it was always meant to be.

It has not yet been determined who will claim the last laugh,
but such awareness is sure to become crystal clear as both sides confront their death beds.
The odds stack against him, but everybody fails to realize the underlying complexion within the monster that they themselves have created.

See, an underdog thrives off of unfavoritism.
It feeds on it, much like the way a vulture scavenges the remains of victims that put too much distance between themselves and the rest of the herd.

Due to the chip he wears on his shoulder, he can no longer carry the world on his back the way he was once supposed to.
Instead he holds it in his hand with a smile in his eyes.

'Veni vidi vici, ' he whispers, and let's go.