J.J. Campbell

 

discarded needles

picture a hot day
in august

a bland parking
lot next to a car
dealership

at night, you can
find discarded
needles in this
parking lot

but that doesn’t
fit the narrative
they want to have
for this picturesque
city

i see the abandoned
cars in the dealership
lot

i can just imagine
what is locked in
the trunks

 

from all the pain

she had the legs of
an alien

the lips of a hooker
from the 70’s

her eyes cried from
all the pain

and as she rests in
your arms on this
rainy night

you couldn’t imagine
anyone else you’d want
to spend forever with

 

cutting through some woods

i remember being
shot at when i was
a teenager

cutting through some
woods to go see my
girlfriend at the time

old men, liquor
and guns

i learned my lesson

next time, i went
on a bicycle

he had no chance
against a faster
moving target

 

off in the distance

a quiet section
of an old town

the sound of the
highway off in
the distance

you can hear
yourself think
out here

and no one has
to see you panic
and drink that
pain away

 

right to the point

there’s an art to
cutting through
the bullshit and
getting right to
the point

it’s an acquired
taste

like shit or jazz

eventually, it
becomes a skill

use it wisely

you’re going to
burn plenty of
bridges along
the way

 

J.J. Campbell (1976 - ?) is old enough to know where the bodies are buried. He's been widely published over the years, most recently at Horror Sleaze Trash, Cajun Mutt Press, Synchronized Chaos, The Beatnik Cowboy and otoliths. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)