{"id":2774,"date":"2016-04-11T16:11:32","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T16:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/?page_id=2774"},"modified":"2016-04-12T00:48:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T00:48:52","slug":"ben-newell-april-2016","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/archives\/ben-newell-april-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Newell, April 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

the persons appearing in this ad are acting professionals<\/strong><\/p>\n

The private hospital
\nmonopolizes damn near every billboard
\nalongside this section of I-55,
\nbombarding me each day as I drive in
\nand out;
\nthe ones about cancer are particularly confounding,
\na roster of photogenic faces flashing
\nluminous smiles;
\nthese people look like they just had
\nthe best sex of their lives.<\/p>\n

I find this most unsettling,
\nthis selling of falsity to the doomed.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m sure my father would,
\ntoo\u2014<\/p>\n

After cancer concluded its five-year assault
\nthere wasn\u2019t much left to bury,
\nso we had him cremated,
\nreduced to a pile of ashes incompatible
\nwith their current marketing
\nstrategy.<\/p>\n

exit the adjunct<\/strong><\/p>\n

There I stood at the dry erase board,
\ntalking and writing
\nwhile fresh faces frowned
\nat the syllabus, their concern\/worry for nothing
\nas some suit entered
\nand called off the party.<\/p>\n

Course cancelled
\ndue to inadequate enrollment.<\/p>\n

So sorry
\nand goodbye
\nand go home.<\/p>\n

They zipped their packs
\nand followed his administrative wake,
\nleaving me in that room
\nwith
\ndick in hand\u2014\u2014
\n\u2014\u2014$1100 annihilated just like that, just like my brain cells
\nwhen I got the hell out of there
\nand got drunk
\nand hoped the 12-stepper\/neo hippie caf\u00e9
\nstill needed a dishwasher.<\/p>\n

faking it on aisle five<\/strong><\/p>\n

Random ace hacker
\ninfiltrated the sound system
\nat Target,
\nreplacing the subliminal \u201cbuy more shit\u201d music
\nwith audio from a porn film.<\/p>\n

Bedlam ensued,
\nequal parts amusement and disgust;
\nsome thought it was the height of hilarity,
\nlaughing while capturing
\nthe debacle with their smart phones;
\nothers, mostly those with children in tow,
\nabandoned their carts
\nand walked out\u2014<\/p>\n

Having neither smart phone
\nnor kid(s),
\nI see myself falling somewhere
\nin the middle . . . .<\/p>\n

Sticking around to finish my shopping
\nyet hardly impressed
\nwith her enthusiastic dirty talk
\nI\u2019ve heard before
\nand don\u2019t believe a single word.<\/p>\n

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,<\/strong> and others. He likes hot weather and cold gin. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":934,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2774","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nBen Newell, April 2016 - Full Of Crow: Poetry (Archives)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/archives\/ben-newell-april-2016\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ben Newell, April 2016 - Full Of Crow: Poetry (Archives)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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; 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