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# Joker
- URL: https://dianaludwick.com/joker/
- Published: 2026-04-03T18:43:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:09:59.000Z
- Description: “Joker,” a face-off with a snarky teen, written April 03, poem 093 in a series of 365 poems written by Diana Ludwick in 2026. Photo: "The Joker, an Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin," by Diana Ludwick (c) 2026.
- Author: Diana Ludwick
- Tags: 2026 Poetry Challenge, Dry Humor, Humor, Poems, April, Aquarium, Baltimore, Dolphin, Mammal, Sealife, Side eye, Splash Zone, Spring, Spring Break, #Migrated-1792872215677, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-24 20:03

She glides past, throwing me side eye.  
Can’t win em all, I think.  
She returns, this time bearing a smirk.  
Oh, she’s feeling better! I sigh in relief.  
  
Without warning:   
***S p l a s h !***  
She inundates me  
with a swift flick of her tail.  
  
I glance down and take in:  
my water soaked jeans,  
my dripping Veja leather sneakers.  
I feel my no-show socks squelching.  
  
She swims away.  
And I swear, I  
 hear her cackling   
in Atlantic bottlenose dolphinese.  
  
She’s laughing at, not with me.  
I guess that one’s on me.  
I’m in ‘the Splash Zone’ after all.  
Lesson learned.  
  
Just because the National Aquarium   
indefinitely cancelled scripted shows  
doesn’t mean that the resident dolphins  
agreed to cancel showing off.  
  
Mammal v mammal:  
As standoffs go,   
I guess I’ll take a splash off   
over the alternatives on display   
around the world this month.  
  
I walk away, a little thrown.  
Slightly chagrined.  
Squeaking in my kicks,  
I concede this round to the sea.