----------------------------------------------------------------------
to try harder
 

i usually have to be

pretty fucking close

to drunk off my ass

to try to talk to any

beautiful woman

i don't know

 

i remember a night

in a club back in

my twenties where

i approached this

gorgeous black

woman and said

some gibberish

 

she laughed and

told me to try

harder

 

i laughed and said

something stupid

enough to make

her smile and tell

me to go get her

a drink

 

when i came back

 

she was making out

with some other guy

 

apparently, i wasn't

drunk enough for the

beer muscles to kick

in

 

but i did enjoy her

amaretto sour
-----------------------------------------------------------------
the locusts
 

happiness is

one of those

rare events

anymore

 

i treat it like

a comet or

the locusts

 

it's not what

i want in my

life, but i

suppose it's

just the way

it is

 

they say

money can't

buy happiness

 

well guess

what

 

neither can

being poor
----------------------------------------------
in cowboy boots
 

drove past a woman

mowing her grass

in cowboy boots

 

i smiled

 

got home to find

my grass being

cut by the cousin

that molested me

as a child

 

i don't think

you'd call this

a smile
--------------------------------------------------------
the lines of pain
 

trace

the

lines

of pain

on this

broken

face

 

the

sweet

caress

of your

bloody

fingers

 

may

it be

the

last

thing

i

remember
--------------------------------------------------
looking for trouble
 

it's been years since

i went out drinking

looking for trouble

 

the last time that

happened i was

taking a girl to

go buy crack at

seven in the

morning

 

after a long night

of drinking and

fucking around

in some strip

clubs

 

looking back

 

i probably should

have had her buy

some for me


J.J. Campbell (1976 - ?) is old enough to know better. He's been widely published over the years, most recently at Disturb the Universe Magazine, The Beatnik Cowboy, Horror Sleaze Trash, The Rye Whiskey Review and The Asylum Floor. He has a new book out with Casey Renee Kiser from RaVenGhost Press, Altered States of The Unflinching Souls. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)