Poetry Drawer: Five Poems by J.J. Campbell

the cycle to continue

i remember when i
told my mother i
was molested as
a child

she started to cry

it would be years
until i realized she
was crying because
it happened to her
as well, as a child

that made me wonder
if deep down she
wanted the cycle
to continue

i never bought this
bullshit that parents
want their children
to have better lives
than them

it goes against every
fibre of human
psychology i have
ever learned

i’m not asking for
a medal for getting
into my forties and
not having any
children

i’m simply saying
perhaps i should
get a better tax
credit for ending
a cycle of abuse

if the woman would have been white

and here’s another
story of a black
woman missing
for over twenty
years

none of the white
television anchors
are willing to say
the truth

if the woman
would have been
white, the family
would have had
some sense of
closure by now

the anchors want
you to believe
hope still exists

no wonder i
stopped watching
the evening news

a few miles downstream

i once went swimming
at midnight in the river

i was alone and i
desperately wanted
to die

just my luck, i was
able to get a few miles
downstream just by
floating

i went under and
stopped holding
my breath

apparently, the
journey is not
over yet

although, i do help
clean the river each
year

i’ll always blame
the litter for not
allowing me to
go deeper and
finish this life
off

the last sucker on this planet

my best friend
blames me for
her cancer

i cry at night
sometimes
when i think
how unable
i am to help

but then again

i refuse to be
the last sucker
on this planet

the days of
needing to
dance naked
on the freeway
are drawing
to a close

even the losers
get to have a
damn convention

happiness in slavery

it always catches
me off guard when
i see a beautiful
black woman with
a white guy wearing
a confederate flag
t-shirt

i’m guessing two
more clueless souls
that bought the lies
about state’s rights

or perhaps they
believe they found
happiness in slavery

or considering
the size difference
between the two

i’m guessing the racist
likes being dominated
by the nubian queen

J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is currently trapped in suburbia, plotting his revenge.
He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at Record Magazine, The Dope Fiend Daily, Horror Sleaze Trash, Synchronized Chaos, and Chiron Review.
His most recent chapbook, the taste of blood on christmas morning, was published by Analog Submission Press.
You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (
http://evildelights.blogspot.com) 


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