----------------------------------------------------------------------
the chinese alphabet
 

i dread the holidays

 

mostly because i grew

up on dysfunction

 

normal shit is as foreign

to me as the chinese

alphabet

 

but i'm old now

 

crazy left years ago

 

i seek the quiet

 

never minded being

alone, just never wanted

to be lonely

 

the phone won't ring

on christmas

 

all my former friends

have their families

and the friends they

are using now

 

i'll turn on some music

 

something dark and melodic

 

we never even bother to

put up a tree anymore

 

somewhere charlie brown

is laughing
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
while alone in the shower
 

she reminds you of

a ghost from your past

 

listens to mozart

while humming

in spanish

 

pretends to play

the slide trombone

while alone in the

shower

 

her kisses taste

like you were

born on the

wrong planet

 

she once kissed me

on my lips and told

me to close my eyes

 

i never saw her again
---------------------------------------------------------
plastic bombs in the sand
 

insomnia dances

like a lost lover

strung out on neon

lights and a gentle

line of cocaine

 

think of all the years

since our lips first met

 

then ponder how each

of us should already

be dead

 

rainbows and smiles

 

plastic bombs in the sand

 

maybe one day the poor

won't have to fight a rich

man's war

 

i know

 

long after most of the planet

ceases to exist

 

you ever learn to speak

another language

 

yeah

 

i can say fuck fluently

in nearly all of them

 

that's really all you need
------------------------------------------------------
make believe brilliance blah blah blah
 

long lines

 

rising prices

 

i knew there was a reason

i never wanted children

 

and all the good alcohol

is too expensive

 

and the shit i can afford

is only meant to harm

the liver faster

 

i put on some charlie parker

and wonder which will

come first

 

the first line of a poem

 

or a fresh vein

 

don't worry

 

if i can't afford the alcohol

how the fuck can i afford

the drugs

 

poem after poem

 

make believe brilliance

blah blah blah

 

maybe santa should actually

bring me some scratch offs

that are winners
----------------------------------------------------------------
way too early in life
 

the darkest eyes

cover up the most

pain

 

her smooth skin

tasted like all my

nightmares made

into an off broadway

play

 

the twinkling lights

are supposed to be

joyful

 

you've seen too

many movies

about small

towns

 

backwoods killers

 

and all the children

that succumb to reality

way too early in life

 

the holidays are rarely

happy

 

no snow for christmas

 

just rain

 

endless fucking rain

 

misery fit for everyone

around here

J.J. Campbell (1976 - ?) was raised by wolves yet managed to graduate high school with honors. He's been widely published over the years, most recently at Dumpster Fire Press, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Horror Sleaze Trash, The Asylum Floor and The Beatnik Cowboy. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)