The Joker

 

Why would I want to be 

Like those who conspired to destroy me?

Like those who used and abused me?

Does it really mean that much to belong

With those who comply with whatever Simon says?

A flock of mindless sheep.

Damaged beyond repair by my past

I have no worthwhile future.

Those who ridiculed and abused me will pay.

There is no solution when debasement of those who are different

Is condoned by the culture.

Your worst nightmare didn't arise out of nowhere 

With no reason for existing.

Society created me.

Without a significant change in the way the outsider is treated

There is no solution for me.

I am a complexity.

In a world where ridicule is the commonly accepted response

To those who cannot comply with rigid standards of perfection

Chaos will continue to be the order of the day.

notes

I added effects to the base photo using Pixlr.

Today's prompt asks participants to write a poem from the point of view of a monster or jack-o-lantern. What does the monster fear?

https://experiencewriting.com/2023/10/15/oct-15-prompts-carving-scary-faces/

As for the suggested form, do you Bop?

https://poets.org/glossary/bop

The first stanza (six lines long) states the problem, and the second stanza (eight lines long) explores or expands upon the problem. If there is a resolution to the problem, the third stanza (six lines long) finds it. If a substantive resolution cannot be made, then this final stanza documents the attempt and failure to succeed.

As the third stanza reveals, there is a possible but not likely solution to the problem presented in the poem.

I love my hyperbolic comic Jokers. Nobody can touch Cesar Romero as the jolly madcap villain in the campy 1960s Batman TV show. While I enjoyed Jack Nicholson's performance as The Joker in the 1989 Batman movie (Michael Keaton did a fine job as well) I didn't care for the film overall. Kim Basinger was wasted in a role that reduced her to arm candy. Mark Hamill's Joker in the Batman animated series captures the essence of the comic book Joker. 

The tortured soul portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix is different from every previous iteration of The Joker. While his murderous actions can't be condoned, they are understandable. 

In this world, no one can be different or strange or damaged, or they lock you up.

--John River

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Jim Cooper from Pixabay

"I never pictured you playing Maria in The Sound of Music, Harley Quinn, but I must say your commitment to method acting is impressive!"

"Thanks, Owl! Do you think my girl Poison Ivy would be better as Mother Abbess, or as Leisl Von Trapp?"

https://odysee.com/@ZeroSmoke:b/%EF%BD%82%EF%BD%85%EF%BD%94%EF%BD%94%EF%BD%85%EF%BD%92-%EF%BD%83%EF%BD%81%EF%BD%8C%EF%BD%8C:d?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

http://myjustsostory.blogspot.com