a passion for life
 
she has this
listless look
in her eyes
 
i once saw fire,
emotion, a passion
for life that burned
like arson
 
the circle is closing
 
death is inevitable
 
only the lucky ever
die happy
 
the rest of us can
only hope to find
something that
isn't too painful
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pure fucking misery
 
here comes
the rain again
 
a hot august
thunderstorm
creeping along
 
pure fucking
misery
 
one of these days
i'll be lucky enough
to fall asleep in bed
and never wake up
again
 
of course, that kind
of wishful thinking
hasn't got me anywhere
i ever wanted to be
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
hole in the world town
 
i never understood why
anyone would want to
live around a ton of
people
 
whenever i travel south
for one of my mother's
medical appointments
 
i see all the traffic
 
all these overpriced
houses
 
the schools aren't any
better and neither are
the drugs
 
i'll take my little hole
in the world town and
just be fine
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
this is my life now
 
sitting in the car
 
watching it rain
 
insert random
healthcare facility
and any day of the
week and this pretty
much is my life now
 
and i don't want to
come off like i hate
taking care of
my aging mother
 
or that my life would
be oh so much better
if i was the rich one
instead of my sister
 
the way the choices
and consequences
came down were
how it was meant
to be
 
i accept that
 
but i'd be stupid if
i wasn't planning
or at the very least,
dreaming of what
my life will be once
death enters the picture
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
like some math equation
 
not sure how many
times i'm going to
know i'm ready to
die for it to actually
fucking happen
 
even my patience
for that is running
out
 
i wish this was like
some math equation
which would mean
life would be the
answer to this shit
 
sadly, i know that
isn't the case
 
if only...

J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is currently trapped in suburbia, plotting his escape. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at The Beatnik Cowboy, Terror House Magazine, Horror Sleaze Trash, Misfit Magazine and Mad Swirl. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)

'Fist'

Somedays, my anger is like my fist
And believe me it's always clenched.

I'm afraid of opening my hands
'cause I might sprawl a disaster

Most time, I hold my tongue-tied
as best as I can
and believe me I try to stop my speech
and hold my breath
'cause if I didn't
I would have said 
'Fuck you'
a thousand times.

    Adesiyan Oluwapelumi

These poems were composed by means of a deterministic process called Natafero. Birth/death dates are used to create a number sequence which is used to read through a source text in which words, and or phrases, are extracted, creating a found-text poem.
 

delacroix

France,
settings,
saw brushstrokes
looked	for
restrained	Romanticists
turbulent	contemporary
Flemish
The Greek’s Romantic movement :

painting.”

was he
the enduring Delacroix
vivid		lasting		proud
the lions almost decorative

well
lived


 
hopper


had study
Although
styles			effect
was began to

who of work

Railroad,
From whether New
even all-
       night	own
by example
suffused dark
despite
palette,

 
o’keeffe


O’Keeffe
individ-
      ual child
York.

of ideas	friend
Alfred
influential
seen later,
that	personal
promoter
O’Keeffe	stark
of there
inspiration
close-
ups compel
new	the shadow.

the simple austere

HOCUS SCOTUS 
             I'll Ride that
Kangaroo with or without the
                 Gavel.

EASE UP and JUSTICE is
       NATURAL with 
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE 

THE NIGHT BOAT

If anyone asks,
I will say it is not an adventure
Setting a boat in an evening tide,
But on a misty morning
With agile waves
With no clear figure
What the day holds in her folded hands is
This is to say that,
It's better to travel at night than in the day
Because, that was how my grandmother was taken ashore 
And she didn't return
And when I will visit the Island in the future,
I pray that I row in a night boat too
Without our soul sitting in the dock, a leg in, a leg out
For that costs twice
To put both legs to sea at once.

BLUSHING BRIDE 
By
Aisha MLabo

She is like a star to the world 
Darling to all center of attraction 
The prettiest piece of flesh 
Cynosure of all eyes 
Glowing in her cocktail outfit 
Her veil falls soft over her curly hair 
And her skin is a wintry cream 
With her velvet high heels 
Adorned with hearts walkable and pretty 
Holding amaryllis in her hands 
That brings her splendid beauty  
She have a euphonious voice 
Oh black beautiful blushing bride!
After the twenty four hours period, she was getting hitched.

Short Bio

Aisha MLabo writes from Katsina state and she is currently studying at Umaru Musa Yar'adua University,Katsina.