the persons appearing in this ad are acting professionals
The private hospital
monopolizes damn near every billboard
alongside this section of I-55,
bombarding me each day as I drive in
and out;
the ones about cancer are particularly confounding,
a roster of photogenic faces flashing
luminous smiles;
these people look like they just had
the best sex of their lives.
I find this most unsettling,
this selling of falsity to the doomed.
And I’m sure my father would,
too—
After cancer concluded its five-year assault
there wasn’t much left to bury,
so we had him cremated,
reduced to a pile of ashes incompatible
with their current marketing
strategy.
exit the adjunct
There I stood at the dry erase board,
talking and writing
while fresh faces frowned
at the syllabus, their concern/worry for nothing
as some suit entered
and called off the party.
Course cancelled
due to inadequate enrollment.
So sorry
and goodbye
and go home.
They zipped their packs
and followed his administrative wake,
leaving me in that room
with
dick in hand——
——$1100 annihilated just like that, just like my brain cells
when I got the hell out of there
and got drunk
and hoped the 12-stepper/neo hippie café
still needed a dishwasher.
faking it on aisle five
Random ace hacker
infiltrated the sound system
at Target,
replacing the subliminal “buy more shit” music
with audio from a porn film.
Bedlam ensued,
equal parts amusement and disgust;
some thought it was the height of hilarity,
laughing while capturing
the debacle with their smart phones;
others, mostly those with children in tow,
abandoned their carts
and walked out—
Having neither smart phone
nor kid(s),
I see myself falling somewhere
in the middle . . . .
Sticking around to finish my shopping
yet hardly impressed
with her enthusiastic dirty talk
I’ve heard before
and don’t believe a single word.
Ben Newell, 43, works as a library clerk at a small college in Jackson, Mississippi. His poems have appeared in such places as Chiron Review, LUMMOX, Mad Swirl,Nerve Cowboy, Your One Phone Call, and others. He likes hot weather and cold gin.
