Poetry from J.J. Campbell

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

sitting in a

waiting room

mumbling

to myself

 

this how the

poems are

made folks

 

there's another

guy sitting a few

chairs over, he's

looking at me

 

i start to mumble

louder, hoping

he will move

 

he got up and

walked to the

other side

 

and they say i

don't know how

to handle being

in public
------------------------------------------------------------
all the miles between them
 

the devil is a soft-skinned

mistress somewhere in

minnesota

 

the foul-mouthed madman

is comfortable in his lonely

life in ohio

 

misery is all the miles

between them

 

there is little chance this

will end up as a lifetime

movie
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stay quiet about the dirty dreams
 

is it better to

exist or live

like a fool

 

love a whore

or stay quiet

about the dirty

dreams of the

pastor's daughter

 

make fun of the

homeless or give

them a new brown

paper bag for their

alcohol

 

i often find myself

sitting at a red light

blasting music from

a century or two ago

 

i get some funny

looks but every

once in a while

an old soul will

nod in approval

 

when that happens

i immediately

change the channel

 

i stopped being a

monkey for your

attention years ago

 

at least have the

decency to make

one believe there

will be some money

involved
--------------------------------------------------------------------
darkness is an old friend
 

i have lucid

nightmares

that creep

into my

thoughts in

the middle

of the day

 

i can still

taste my

cousin's

nipple in

my mouth

all these

years later

 

i still

remember

how cold

the bathroom

floor was

 

darkness

is an old

friend

 

but at times

it likes to

leave me

crippled

and begging

for death

 

one of these

days i'll be

free at last
--------------------------------------------------------------
might as well throw out a few bombs
 

never fall in love with

the wrong woman

 

the beautiful one with

a great memory

 

the type of woman that

remembers every stupid

thing you ever said in

a fight

 

especially the really

cruel shit that was

meant to hurt her

 

because you thought

well, we're never going

to speak again, might

as well throw out a few

bombs

 

those women will haunt

your dreams until you

die

 

they will remind you

of all that stupid shit

you said at any moment

they deem necessary

 

i suppose this is what

i get for remembering

someone's birthday

 

if i truly was the fucking

asshole i am being accused

of

 

i certainly would have

forgotten the fucking

day

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