Poetry from J.J. Campbell

Middle aged white man with a beard standing in a bedroom with posters on the walls
J.J. Campbell
lifetimes ago
 

i remember wishing

upon a star as a child

 

i'm still waiting for

that wish to come

true

 

i know i'm patient

but fuck me

 

my childhood feels

like two or three

fucking lifetimes

ago

 

when i see them

these days i don't

bother to make

any wishes

 

fool me once...
--------------------------------------------------
a hamster wheel
 

the constant race

 

have or have not

 

first or last

 

rich or poor

 

it is a hamster

wheel that has

no stop

 

not even with

death

 

i still know dead

people gone for

over twenty years

still getting mail

 

it is why i stay

within the fringes

 

out in the margins

and creases of life

 

you can't imagine

what you can get

away with when

no one is paying

attention
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
the years apart
 

the muse has

slid back into

my life

 

i think the years

apart weighed

on each of us

 

it reminded me

of just how big

of an asshole i

can be at times

 

it also taught me

how much a sincere

apology can mean

to someone

 

now, i never thought

of marriage or children

or even being allowed

to get close enough

for anything

 

but now, given this

crazy world

 

all these options

seem to be on

the table

 

should be an

interesting

summer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
in hindsight
 

and of course

 

just when i start

to think about

having a wife

or whatever

in my life

no one is

interested

anymore

 

in hindsight

 

i'm sure this

is how it was

meant to be

 

loners don't

suddenly have

a spell of good

luck and the

perfect wife

appears and

utopia ensues

 

life is about

learning to

swallow the

hate and pain

and pretend

waking up

the next day

it will all

change
-----------------------------------------------------------
be careful what you wish for
 

death is

creeping

closer to

my door

 

my mother

has already

cheated

death

 

twice

 

i doubt

i will get

that

fucking

lucky

J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is stuck in suburbia, plotting his escape. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at Horror Sleaze Trash, The Rye Whiskey Review, Disturb The Universe Magazine, The Beatnik Cowboy and Cajun Mutt Press. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)