-------------------------------------------------------
simpatico
 

the soft brown skin

 

all the inside jokes

 

no one understands

us

 

it shouldn't work

 

love shouldn't be

anywhere near

whatever this is

 

but i see the look

in your eyes

 

simpatico

 

fuck the world

 

stack all the fucking

decks against us

 

we will break them

all down with glee

 

with love

 

with a never-ending

sense of what is right

 

i lick the honey off

of your finger and kiss

you with all of what i

have left to give

 

everything doesn't

do it justice

 

rescued an old soul

from the bitter edge

 

hopefully now,

we jump together
------------------------------------------------------
if we could get away with it
 

i remember being on vacation

with the family and my father

got us lost while hiking in

the great smoky mountains

 

it might have been the first time

i ever thought i wonder if we killed

him here if we could get away with it

 

trust me, it wasn't the last

 

as the dysfunction grew, the vacations

became crazier and crazier

 

eventually, i was driving and the

thought became a notion that i

actually had a say in

 

never did kill him

 

but i sure was a happy motherfucker

when he did die

 

i'm sure his family reads these poems

 

part of me wonders if they ever

understood the monster he became

 

the other part of me is pretty

damn sure they don't care

 

which is fine

 

not everyone is cut out

for the family life

 

one of the genes my father

has passed along to me
----------------------------------------------------------
like a beautiful woman
 

i treat my pain like

a beautiful woman

 

it will kill me and

it is a race to see

who gets there first

 

i'm just a bystander

along for the ride

 

sometimes, i even

get to participate

 

the pills never seem

to work but jack daniels

is always in my corner

 

every once in a while

i'd love for that beautiful

woman to grab the shotgun

in the corner and use me as

target practice

 

somewhere, burroughs is

shining up an apple

 

a soft embrace

on a sweaty night

 

two lost lovers

trying to make up

for all the moments

that have escaped

 

along the way, the pain

became love and love

will kill us all
--------------------------------------------------
the endless temptation
 

hopelessly devoted to

the last beautiful soul

i ever want to know

 

longing for that kiss

 

the look of desire

 

the endless temptation

on the tip of her tongue

 

dancing under a full moon

 

the autumn crisp in the air

 

she whispers i love you

into my ear

 

my heart starts to skip

a beat

 

if i'm lucky

i'll die in her arms

 

before either of us get

a chance to ruin the

moment
--------------------------------------------------
mister right now
 

remember the one that gave

you the stevie nicks vibes?

 

the one that you had the

most sexual chemistry

with

 

i was only mister right

now for her

 

she never was going to settle

for anything less than forever,

with whom she is still with

 

welcome to the other side

of the coin

 

where you are nobody's forever,

at least anymore

 

hell, mister right now hasn't

seen the light of day for years

now

 

there comes a time when you

can't deny how much reality

fucking sucks sometimes

 

losers are the glue of society

 

you remember writing that

a lifetime ago?

 

sure, still believe it

 

still understand my place

in it all

 

more people die alone than

you happen to read about

in the newspapers



J.J. Campbell (1976 - ?) is slowly wasting away in the suburbs, drinking away the pain from arthritis. He's been widely published over the years, most recently at The Asylum Floor, Horror Sleaze Trash, The Rye Whiskey Review, Horror Sleaze Trash Quarterly and The Beatnik Cowboy. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)