Poem by Don Kingfisher Campbell

Jukebox, or Vending Machine

When I saw the round white buttons
You could push for selections
I put in four quarters and started reading

Let’s see, Hot Chocolate
Will I hear Emma, Emmaline
Or should I be looking for a cup slot

The next one said, Whip
(Devo? Whip it good?)
Maybe this is merely a dispenser

But then to the right of that
Spelled Cream, I imagined being
In a White Room with black curtains
Instead of the sound of a condiment poured

The clincher… at the end I gazed upon
Double Sugar… code for The Archies
Couldn’t be just making cavities, yes

The little rectangular clear plastic sliding door
Really was my tipping point, I slid it open
Expecting a pre-printed cassette single
Only to grab a steaming paper cylinder

Made me wonder what would have happened
If another choice was Coffee Strong
Shall I walk away because I don’t drink the stuff
Wait, must listen, for a new music I’ve never heard

Don Kingfisher Campbell has just earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles. His poems have recently appeared in About Place, A Poet Is A Poet No Matter How Tall, Crack The Spine, L.A. Poetry Examiner, Literary Burlesque, Men In The Company Of Women, New Verse News, Poetic Breakfast, Poetic Diversity, Poetry Super Highway, Revolutionary Poets Brigade, Sassafras, Statement, Subtopian, Sun Runner, Tower Journal, The Write Room, Writers At Work, and Zouch. He is also the editor of the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly and host of Saturday Afternoon Poetry at the Santa Catalina Branch of the Pasadena Public Library.

Fabio Sassi makes acrylics with the stencil technique. He uses logos, tiny objects and what is considered to have no worth by the mainstream. He still prefers to shoot with an analog camera. Fabio lives and works in Bologna, Italy.