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

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #107: Soliloquy No Renga: One Starry Night

Starry Night by Alex Ruiz

one starry night

to make that one painting -

the rustling leaves

as summer draws to a close

and the green leaves turn to gold

on one starry night
so many years in the past
years rushed by so fast
a foolish girl made a wish
that could never come to pass

she would never be
Venus Anadyomene
more Pickman's model
never seen through eyes of love
always used and tossed aside

the rustling of leaves
as they crunch beneath the shoes
of a broken crone
step hobbled and hair of gray
dead dreams lie within her heart

summer draws to close
life's flame is growing dimmer
she hides in the dark
tortured by the memory
of a girl who wanted more

green leaves turn to gold
golden strands of hair to gray
no matter the shade
she was never beautiful
her heart is cold as winter

~Chèvrefeuille & Cie~

Notes:

The first Hokku was created by Chèvrefeuille. The rest of this mess you can blame on me.

Shout-outs to Sandro Botticelli and H.P. Lovecraft. Can you spot their influence?

OctPoWriMo 2019: Day 2: Changelings: A Senryu Trio

Image by prettysleepy1 from Pixabay

the most docile soul

may transform to a changeling

if abused enough

a child's mind comes to
fear what waits in the darkness
when left all alone

a fantasy world

is better than what is real

for the outsider

~Cie~

Song Inspiration:

Also dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft in honor of his story, The Outsider.
He wrote it about himself.
I always felt as if he could have written it for me.

Tan Renga Challenge 2019: Day 7: Wisteria

Image Source

In the moonlight,

The color and scent of the wisteria

Seems far away.

As far away I think as

My sense of belonging here

Buson & Cie

Notes:

The Hokku (Haiku) stanza of the poem was written by Yosa Buson (1716 - 1784). The Akegu (closing) stanza was written by me.

I have never felt that I belonged in this world. When I was younger, I always hoped I'd find people I belonged with. There have been a few where I feel like they put up with me to a degree or felt sympathy for me, but I have never had a sense of finding my "tribe." The only person I'm really at all close with is my son. I tend to form only very superficial relationships with other people.

Dinners with my mother are perilous and fraught with small talk. She has never approved of any of my choices, and she knows almost nothing about what is really transpiring in my life.

I am not at all close with the other members of my family. I would not recognize most of them if I passed them in the street.

At this point in my life, I do not wish to party and socialize. I have one friend whom I confide in via email, and that means a lot. This friend lives a few thousand miles away from me, so it isn't as if we could get together for coffee.

I have felt a degree of understanding and acceptance from the people participating in this little Tan Renga challenge, which I usually don't get a sense of during such challenges. 

I usually feel as if I am an outsider who has crashed a party when participating in blog hops, and the general sense is "what is that freak doing here at our exclusive soiree?" Some of the blog hops I participate in are very focused on clothing and fashion although other sorts of posts are allowed, and if you don't think I'm an absolute outlier when it comes to fashion, you don't know me at all. I can't afford nice clothes or even new clothes, and I look like an unmade bed most of the time.

One would think that I would feel more at home with creative blog hops, but I usually don't. I've been surprised by the feeling of peace I've gained participating in this one. Maybe it's just that no-one has attacked me yet. Hopefully, we can do without that happening this time.