Pris Campbell's poetry has appeared in numerous poetry journals, including Chiron Review, Boxcar Poetry Review, Oranges & Sardines, Main Street Rag, and The Dead Mule. She has received three Pushcart Prize nominations and has published five collections of poetry. The two most recent are Sea Trails, by Lummox Press, and The Nature of Attraction, with Scott Owens, by Main Street Rag Press. A former Clinical Psychologist, she has been sidelined since 1990 with ME/CFS. She now lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. Contact her at campris@bellsouth.net for more information about the poetry books.
Addiction
Worn-out Barbies strut past
the local adult bookstore.
Hips swinging over micro minis.
Lips the color of blood,
Eyes that would face down a forest fire.
Morality cops march in protest:
Sodom and Gomorrah, they cry.
The hookers stroll on...what business
is it of theirs?
Cars still tail them, drivers too hot
to resist rotating hips and puckered mouths
promising a green-backed visit to heaven.
Batter Up
Mother visits my dreams
every night this week,
shares photographs…
me playing recess softball in seventh grade.
I had forgotten that person
who fumbled balls,
couldn't hit them,
was always chosen last for the team
because of a lazy eye
that didn't let me see
where things were coming from.
The ball could land right beside me,
even bounce off my head
as I groped to catch it.
I could bat at the wind,
ball five feet away,
while the other kids watched,
laughing.
But tonight...
tonight in those photos,
I catch every fly,
I smoke every ball.
