————————————————————

—————————————————————-

impending doom

and now the pain starts

to radiate down my left

arm

all my imagination can

come up with is impending

doom

i don’t mind much

i have squeezed about all

the marrow out of this life

i have already lived a few

lives longer than i ever

expected

and while i don’t expect

my death to be sudden

i certainly wouldn’t mind

the adventure that comes

with that

—————————————————————–

the rugged type

dancing with

a 75-year-old

hooker

she says she

likes the rugged

type

you laugh and

say she should

be into whomever

is interested

guess who

will be paying

extra tonight

for anything

———————————————–

an unforgiving sunset

i remember all the goodbyes

the nights of torture and

endless apologies

the quiet car rides into an

unforgiving sunset

your sweet lips wrapped

around the future with

the next lucky soul

and it never failed

the one after me

was the one

the marriage, three

children

life made of greeting

cards and picket fences

sometimes you lose a

game so much you just

decide to quit playing

the fucking thing

love has always been

an enemy

i never wanted it that way

but i never had a chance

either

i’m sure my destiny was

fucked with long before i

knew how to say no

i never was any good

playing a bad hand

———————————————————-

fighting this war

find the rhythm

the beat best to

beat the demons

inside of you

you have lived

too long to still

be fighting this

war

declare a winner

and move the fuck

on already

there are majestic

beaches to see in

places you have

only read about

in books

you’ve lived more

than half your life

and have never

made it past the

arch

what kind of fucking

imagination decides

to neuter itself

embrace the gun

like the child that

was aborted

request a final meal

that doesn’t come

with fries

count to ten and then,

for the first time in

your life

let go

————————————————–

indoor plumbing

i was on

the toilet

the other

day eating

a banana

i’m sure

if the apes

had indoor

plumbing

they would

do the same

J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is old enough to know better. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at Horror Sleaze Trash, The Asylum Floor, The Rye Whiskey Review, Disturb the Universe Magazine and The Beatnik Cowboy. His new book with Casey Renee Kiser, Altered States of the Unflinching Souls, will be coming out in August of 2024. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights.