ten murders, sponsored by...

the morning after
attempting
to define news
i flipped open
a copy
of the sun-times

one of the page spreads
smacked me in the face

ads were slathered
liberally
across the two pages
and there were only
two articles:
a very short one
about a triple murder
somewhere
and a considerably longer
(yet still so substanceless)
article
about a septuple murder
in sioux falls

i probably would not
have noticed this glaring pairing
except
that both headlines
included the word "kills"

it grabs eyes
and i can't help to think
that the advertisers gladly pay
a little more
for spots
on the page
with ten killings