Four Poems by J.J. Campbell

 

further away

 

dystopia lovers riding

the edge of a knife

 

hope slowly fading

as the horizon falls

further away

 

you hear an old

david bowie song

come from a passing

car

 

we could be heroes,

but we're not

 

the tears start to fall

like snowflakes

 

you remember when

forever was possible

 

when love had a taste

that gave you life

 

yeah, neither do i

 

one long episode

of what could have

been

 

no lucky chances

on this side of town

for over thirty years

 

i see a sparkle in your eyes

i haven't seen in any human

for over thirty years

 

such the ever-present angel

 

determined to squeeze

the marrow out of life

 

and here i am,

dishevelled and lost

 

stuck on the mountain

wondering where

kerouac is

 

eventually, they stop

calling you a genius

 

the words bum and

waste and fool come

too quickly

 

the sparkle becomes

a dull light

 

batteries rusted

 

another case

of why bother

tripping the night away

 

the neon drips from my soul

 

after yet another life spent

tripping the night away

 

she longingly reaches for

your hand three thousand

miles away

 

you think of it as the finger

of a god you don't believe

in

 

tear down the fourth wall

and marvel at the little

fucker behind the curtain

 

we certainly aren't in kansas

or fucking oz anymore

 

some play checkers

 

while the evil ones

play chess

 

i never got past

connect four

without ever having to wait in line

 

the rare days

where the poems

flow like water

 

like riding your

favourite roller coaster

without ever having

to wait in line

 

cherish these days

 

you damn well

know the flipside

 

where it is like

squeezing water

from a rock to

even get a few

lines out

 

where the answer

is always no

 

and the dreaded

questions of self

confidence beat

you down to

where there is

nothing left

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 Cajun Mutt Press, The Rye Whiskey Review, Synchronized Chaos, The Beatnik Cowboy and Misfit Magazine. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)