Round 2.2: Write a poem about a superhero or -heroine. No set word count.

The Harlequin

She trips the light fantastic
In colours kaleidoscopic.
Thoughts a whirr
Upon trails of rainbows
And moonbeams.

She is chaos
And tempest
In a satin varsity jacket,
Sipping mayhem from a mad hatter's
Chipped cup of tea.

Fragile as a grenade,
Delicate as a bullet
Driven through mind-blowing
Spatters of confetti.

Like scars on her brain,
They gridlock the maze
Of madness
Whose exit is a grave.

Yet the unhinged, unsilent pantomime
Bathed from a toxic vat,
In breathless sprints of glee and whimsy
Runs rampant
Down a winding path.

From victim to villain,
Antihero to guardian,
Her road less travelled
One of redemption
Paved with sin.

For the clown princess held court
With bat in hand,
Wrought by the maniacal laughter
Of a violent knave,
Whom she conquers.
Claims her freedom.
Takes her reign.

Tempered by atonement.
Bested from within.
The true Harlequin emerges
And the superhero begins...