Murderously Disturbed

15. Creepy Clown Park (Ballad) *

Part 3 of the "Haunted Blades" ballad sequence.

15. Creepy Clown Park
(Ballad)

Part 1

Blasted is the day,
   And blasted is the night;
Even though you pray,
   Who will bring the light?

1

Now Leer was walking home one night,
   Conversing with his friend;
The two kept up their conversation
   As they turned 'round the bend

Into a detour crossing through
   A field within a park,
Which they could barely comprehend
   When evening gets too dark.

And so they stood upon the entrance
   Of that foreboding place,
Each wondering with masks of courage
   To hide his fear-filled face.

So Ember (that is Leer's good friend)
   Observed the park and said,
"I've heard that there's a creepy clown
   Who buried someone's head

"Somewhere inside this park about
   A month or two ago."
So said the weirdly thoughtful Ember
   Before the two would go

Along the creepy path right through
   A creepy field at night—
So thought the creepy-storied Leer
   Upon so dark a site.

For Leer had heard about the clown
   That Ember spoke about;
So when the two moved on their steps
   Along the fabled route,

Leer said, "I know. I've heard that, too,
   But here is something more
I've heard that even you don't know:
   That killer clown would bore

"A hole inside that person's skull
   And scoop out all his brains,
Before proceeding to devour
   The rest of his remains."

And so the curious Ember said,
   "What did he use to bore
His skull? An auger? Or a file?"
   Leer, walking as before,

Began to walk a little faster,
   Saying, "I'm not too keen
On how he bores a skull right through,
   Since I have never seen

"Directly how he's done all that,
   But only heard in rumor;
And as to why, I'll just assume
   That he's in some bad humor."

Bad humor was the least of it,
   If all of that was true,
So thought the creepy-storied Leer
   In his expansive purview.

Ember had nothing left to say
   Of Leer's tremendous knowledge
Of creepy tales and creepy hearsay
   That Leer would not acknowledge.

And so the two tread homeward-bound
   Through creepy path and park
In silence, for the night was young,
   Still westering the dark

Completely t'wards the Western edge
   Of such a far-off ambit, *
Where just a half an hour since
   The sun had set upon it.

Now almost all the sky was black
   Towards the western edge
Of that far-off horizon where
   It levels on a straightedge,

But in the darkness of the park,
   Embowered by the trees,
It now took on the creepy cast
   Of something on the breeze

That rustles through the dying leaves
   Of autumn's fading glory,
And so the weary Ember told
   Another creepy story.

He said, "I've heard another clown
   Has come into this place,
But this one doesn't wear a mask
   Or even have a face.

"He's not a clown that wears the mask
   Or makeup of a clown,
But hides the trace of something more
   That few have ever known."

"How do you know, then?" Leer now said.
   "Have you seen it yourself?"
A smile crept up on Ember's face,
   So full of his own self.