The Collected Writings of Brian J. Mueller
A single poem, met at the right moment, can change a life.
Search and read all 1,834 pieces by Brian J. Mueller — 1,675 poems, 38 prose pieces, and 121 haiku from 12 published volumes. Free to read and share.
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Browse the Twelve Volumes
Brian’s collected pieces, volume by volume.
Joker
Isn’t it beautiful?
Melissa and I
watched Joker last night.
Afterward,
my neck and shoulders
ached with a dark empathy
for all the Arthur Flecks
lost in this world.
I know, I know,
I’m not supposed to feel
any empathy for a killer,
even if he is a protagonist
and suffered profoundly
when just a child.
It speaks volumes to me
about our failing hearts,
that a story so relevant
to the misery of our time
must be thinly veiled within
a blockbuster movie,
for anyone to even notice
what the hell is going on.