The Joker, they called him.
         Your fate resting in the cards he held

The deck he carried
      kings, queens, aces and jacks.
but, no joker.
    Why?
Well because, that was he.

"Smile, its your turn."
          He'd laugh,
   A sinister smile staining his lips.

"Lets play a game, my dear."
    "What game?"
The question always fearfully asked

"Well...
         simply,
                     a game of Russian roulette!"
He'd gleefully exclaim.

"But, just one question....
                                  What's your lucky number?"
He'd say, shuffling a deck of knife sharp cards.

"And in the end we all lose!"
He'd grin, before going to capture his next game.

Curious, curious,
Why so furious?
I was only having a little fun.

Gentlemen, gentlemen,
Let's be civilized men.
Why don't you put down that gun?

Laugh, laugh,
Now there's a lad!
My lady you have quite the son.

Copers, copers,
Catch me if you can!
The joker is on the run.

pour me a drink
from the grooves
in your hands, honey
i'll lap up your words,
sip your oceans
like wine
because i only find solace
in salt water hallucinations

and you
are the only form
of intoxication
that doesn’t make
me seasick

This is my last will and testament
I have done many Terrible unspeakable things. By far the worst is what i have done to you my baby brother. Who knew know better. I leave all i have to the love of my life. The only one insane enough. To stay by my side, all these year.
My only regret is never telling you who i truly am and, what i did. I was 17 you just a boy of 12. Mother and father took you to your favorite movie. I left home to do your chores because i was born out of wedlock named with a ******* name, and hidden from the world. I took your beatings and punishments. Never speaking out never. I hired the man just to scare you, mother and father. It wasn't supposed to end the way it did. I'm sorry Bruce. I'm sorry i left you the way i did. I'm sorry i made Alfred promise to never tell you. The one thing i will never regret is what i made you and I.
Love your brother Joseph Kane
The Joker

the lines on our hands
mingle with the
roughness of the fibre

of our skins

talking of touches
long spent

-

there are grooves decorating
our feet

our soles are flattened

only reminders of the places we've been

-

crinkles beside our mouth and eyes

they speak
of smiles
to faces
whisper of tears
in air

-

sometimes
we forget
we drift


*and just like the last time,

we're drawn into the story that never finished
- a story never told

the shoes are imprinted with the paved streets
there is never enough time


our eyes sparkle
but the eyebags belied the many nights
whiled away

smiling at the stars
new maps every night

gazes change as the skies change
we traverse different longitudes

trees spill into trees
there never was a need to distinguish

our passports fading crumbling
paths always leading to each other

will we still be left with an identity?

Never be the Joker
For the Joker never wins
The weakest card oft seeks to guard
Its non-existant sins.

Its folly is in mockery
Because it's well protected
By all the laughs it got from halfs
Of love it ne'er detected.

It thought itself the King of Hearts,
But it couldn't find its Queen
And though the Jack may fail and lack
It did not find its truth obscene.

For many cards may tell their truths
And be beaten from the deck,
But the Joker speaks of lover freaks
He is the stormbeat wreck.

Never lie through jokes or jest
Always tell the truth to poker
For though its sides are mirrored lies
They're truer than the Joker.

"Be careful who you call a King"**

All the romantic girls want a 'knight in shining armour'
All princesses want some noble king to sweep them off their feet
All the bad girls want a rebel who's mean with lots of green
Well... I'm all three

I want the joker
Who can outwit the knight in a fight with only his words
Who can make the king laugh with accents and gestures so absurd
Who can cause the rebel to cry and fly away like a scared little bird
I want the joker

I'm a poet
I need the joker to take away the sadness in the words I write
I need the joker to willingly fight for me with his own life
I need the joker to stand tall and proud, yet admit when he's not right
I need the joker to love me fully, unbiasedly and with all his might
I'm a poet

Knights are overrated
Kings are old and outdated
Rebels are deathly fated

Jokers are an eternity
Cause laughter can surely never die
Jokers are everything
Cause my heart will surely never cry

A sinister crimson smile spreads across my lips,
thinking wicked thoughts while weapons I equip
My inky eyes narrow as I step into the street,
I have a dark night ahead & a hero to beat
I feel it's time for a new villain to grow,
one whose not afraid to watch the blood freely flow
I'm going to show them all whose really chief,
& never will I suffer any of their grief
I ask before I **** them, one last query,
"Why so serious?" I laugh viciously, their eyes get teary
Then as the blood pours from a fresh cut, I go insane,
merely a part of my psychopathic game
So here I am, carving smiles into their faces,
dicing their flesh into ribbons & laces
Waiting for the hero to try & save the day,
anticipating a new game for me to play
Because around here, you can't just be mediocre
They'll see, I'll show them, I am the Joker

i am not a metaphor
for the cracked sidewalk
that sprawls outside my door
growing unwanted weeds,
littered with faults and things
people don't want anymore

i am nothing like the sidewalk
my heart is not made of cement
and it is not used to being walked on
yes, i have faults, but i was not made
to be stepped on repeatedly
because i am human, not asphalt
and my heart is often stuck in my throat,
not steady enough for your heavy words-
not built for your harsh footsteps

i am not a metaphor
for the card games that are played
in rundown casinos
filled with bustling people
with foreheads gleaming sweat,
the sole ambition to conquer the first prize-
people just like you

i am nothing like the card games
and i can't keep pretending that
nothing bothers me, with
a permanent poker face
and always settling to be the sore loser
because i've spent too many forevers
hidden under your shadow,
and it's about time that i pulled a joker
because i am tired of always letting you win