given the family history
 

i always get an eerie feeling

when a family member dies

 

especially out of the blue

or way too young

 

given the family history

 

i have started counting

sunsets

 

smelling the flowers

 

embracing kindness

instead of despair

 

the end is coming up

over the horizon

 

borrowed time is about

ready to pay the bill

 

last call boys

 

make it memorable
----------------------------------------------------------
high school glory only goes so far
 

making art out of

an awkward moment

 

laughing in the rain

because they have

laws against killing

the innocent

 

remembering when

you were the toast

of the town

 

but high school glory

only goes so far

 

comforting the dead

 

knowing damn well

you'll be joining that

club before too long
--------------------------------------------------------------------
release the evil
 

the blood always

starts as a trickle

 

let it bleed

 

let it flow

 

release the evil

 

turn on some

music and make

it a ceremony

 

a sacrifice

 

although, that

is all life seems

to be anymore

 

revolutions come

and go like a thief

in the night

 

hope is a lost cause

 

happiness comes

with a price

 

love is something

someone invented

for greeting cards
----------------------------------------------------------------------
all the way out here
 

a deafening silence

 

all the happy trees

have been cut down

 

that little bob ross

cabin in the woods

would be where he

would take his victims

 

they can't hear the

screams all the way

out here

 

he leaves them all

in the basement

 

a poorly dug hole

 

just enough light

to see the horrors

 

the bones

 

a bucket to shit in

 

all the lost souls

of women they

stopped looking

for
----------------------------------------------------------------
a winter coat
 

halloween tonight

 

chance of snow

 

i still haven't seen

a superhero ever

wear a winter coat

 

we stopped giving

out candy years ago

 

i wanted to pass out

little bottles of jack

daniels but that is

frowned upon by

the authorities here

 

they apparently are

unaware of all the

dysfunctional families

that exist

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, Horror Sleaze Trash, The Rye Whiskey Review, Carcinogenic Poetry and Lothlorien Poetry Journal. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)