Poetry from J.J. Campbell

Middle aged guy with a big beard standing in a bedroom
J.J. Campbell
from time to time
 
i saw a lighter
and a spoon on
the nightstand
by the bed
 
she saw me
looking at them
and uttered she
only does that
from time to
time
 
i told her it
wasn't any
of my business
 
your life
your choice
 
she kissed me
with a tear in
her eye
 
i was her first
non-hypocrite
in a long time
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falling in love again
 
i know i am running out
of chances of ever falling
in love again
 
i wouldn't say i'm desperate
but i know i can hear the old
soul in me growing impatient
 
the joys of being a loner...
 
but it isn't like they are beating
the door down to find me
 
one broken soul has stepped up
and thrown her hat in the ring
 
now, it is up to this broken
soul to actually pick the
fucking thing up
------------------------------------------------------------------------
have her way with me
 
the latest muse wants
to come over and have
her way with me
 
of course, the middle of
a pandemic and suddenly
i'm popular again
 
i have the luck of someone
that's been dead for years
 
and if this is the after life
 
i'm really happy i didn't
waste all that time in
church
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surrounded by death
 
all these years surrounded
by death you can't help
but think about it every
now and then
 
and as much as i love
to die in my sleep i know
the chances get slimmer
and slimmer each year
 
the evil side of me wants
to die on the toilet like
elvis
 
oh, the fucking irony
 
the poet in me wants to
die inside the wife of
someone else
 
in reality, i'm sure it
will be by attrition
 
or right before i was
supposed to suddenly
be rich
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
in the arms of my first love
 
i had a dream last night
 
i died in the arms of
my first love
 
i know i should tell
her about the dream
but i'm not sure what
that would accomplish
 
all the miles between
us aren't getting closer
anytime soon
 
and knowing my luck,
when they do
 
i'll be too late
 
i know i am officially
old when my life
becomes lyrics from
a social distortion
song


J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is old enough to know better. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at Black Coffee Review, Horror Sleaze Trash, The Beatnik Cowboy, The Black Shamrock and Cajun Mutt Press. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)