Thursday, 6 February 2025

Five Poems by J.J. Campbell

 






drag queens and lost regrets


a soft embrace

from a forgotten

soul


the tempting eyes

of something beautiful

from across the room


all drag queens and

lost regrets tonight


someone puts on

the kinks for a laugh


two jack and cokes

a pack of clove

cigarettes


those things are

going to kill you


yeah, that's the point


who wants to live longer

than they fucking have to


she took my hand

and wanted me to

dance


i wasn't drunk enough yet


three more of those and

i'll gladly go make an

ass of myself


she laughed, said she

loves me regardless


i kissed her hand and told

her you know i'm no good

for you but i do appreciate

a good stubborn woman




after many tumultuous years


each glance

each smile

every little tease


her eyes start to

melt my soul


she feels like an

old nina simone

song


like old souls are

meeting again after

many tumultuous

years


her heart races

when she sees

me


i can't remember

a woman ever telling

me that before


flattery gets

you everywhere


i don't recommend

falling in love in the

dead of the winter

with some beauty

many miles away


too much for the mind

to start all the tricks


i'd like to think i am old

enough now to play it cool


she'll be there when the

earth starts to thaw


and perhaps the future has

a different smell to it now




if i could be so lucky


a slow drizzle


like morphine


if i could be

so lucky


the pain starts

to dance down

my spine like

someone is playing

charlie parker at

the wrong speed


mind over matter


been trying that

for years


if i had the money


better living with

chemistry would

be my motto


until then, liquor

will have to suffice


the liver is already

damaged enough


this shouldn't take

long




choked off from enjoyment


withered hands


the scars of life


the pain of still

being alive


choked off from

enjoyment


punch in

punch out


maybe someday

retirement or a

raise comes

around


all these chances

pissed away that

haunt you


wet snow on

a sunny day


this dystopian

future is as bleak

as you thought


imagine death

as the lottery


eventually,

everyone wins,

even just a little





whatever state of mind you find yourself in


it is the taste of defeat


that shit sandwich we

were warned about as

children


sometimes, the boulders

keep coming


eventually, you come

to terms with never

climbing the mountain


hope is a town in whatever

state of mind you find

yourself in


some people thrive on it

others tend to choke


some of us are stuck in an

endless pursuit of whatever


and then you come across

all the dead bodies and

dreams along the way


that empty feeling keeping

you up at night is your inner

child asking for just one more

line on a clean mirror


that sweet angel and all

that joy flushed down

a toilet


just another defeat








J.J. Campbell (1976 - ?) is old enough to know better. He's been widely published over the years, most recently at The Beatnik Cowboy, Synchronized Chaos, The Dope Fiend Daily, Disturb the Universe Magazine and Horror Sleaze Trash. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)








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