junk mail by Ben Newell

I insert my key,

reach inside the box

and pull out a pornographic magazine.

 

This and a letter from the

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

asking for a donation.

 

I toss the letter into a trash bin

filled with junk mail

then walk back to my apt.

 

Kids with cancer

are a major downer—

 

But this photo

of a barely legal brunette

playing with her shaved beaver

helps me forget all about them. 

Ben Newell dropped out of the Bennington Writing Seminars during his first semester, eventually resuming his studies at Spalding University where he earned an MFA.  His first full-length collection of poetry, Fuzzball, was recently published by Epic Rites Press. 

https://www.amazon.com/Fuzzball-Ben-Newell/dp/1926860667/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=fuzzball&qid=1563733227&s=books&sr=1-2