A Joker's Tale

A Poem by dillonjensen

Why so serious?

Is it the scars that make you nervous?
Or is it the clown makeup?
Oh, I think we have a winner.
Well, that's okay.
Shh, shh, shh. You needn't say a word.
I want to tell you a story,
It's about my wife.
You see, you remind me of her.
And this story is seared like it was branded on my brain.
One day she tells me that I worry far too much,
That maybe I should smile a little more.
You see, my wife had a gambling problem.
I use past tense there because she left me,
But that's not important to our little story.
So the loan sharks pay us a small visit.
They sit us down in our old, rotten chairs, and begin to express their concern.
Now by that I mean they began to carve her beautiful face with a simple pocket knife.
Mind you I'm being held down and forced to watch.
Obviously we don't have the money for any surgeries,
But I let her know that the scars do not bother me.
She's depressed all the time,
So I take a razor blade and slowly put it in my mouth.
And then I slice each side of my mouth, which vaguely resembles a smile.
When I show her what I've done she begins to sob uncontrollably.
She can't even look me in the eyes anymore.
And suddenly I get hit like a crashing tidal wave with this aha moment.
Now I can't stop smiling, now I see the irony.
So why don't you put a smile on that face?

© 2015 dillonjensen

Author's Note

My take on the scene from The Dark Knight where The Joker is telling a story about his wife to Rachel Dawes. I borrowed some lines and tried to make them my own, or expanded on them a little. Just wanted to try something different, and seeing that The Joker is my favorite villain, I figured why not give it a go.