Ben Newell

another academic casualty

At work
toiling in the dish pit
[which isn’t really a pit
at all]
minimal effort grants me
an unobstructed view
of the dining room;
on this particular day
I spot
one of my old students
eating lunch with a friend;
he made an A—
I watch him for a short spell
then
quickly retreat to my lair
before he sees me,
another academic casualty
going, going, gone
down
the fucking drain.

 

Ben Newell is a fortysomething writer living in Ridgeland, MS.  His first chapbook, You Are Being Detained, was published by Epic Rites Press as part of its 2017 Punk Chapbook Series.  He holds an MFA from Spalding University and works as a dishwasher.