black marketing

he works in something

not marketing

(but marketing)

a series of acronyms which make my

head hurt

but he’s engaging

On the verge of laughing at an inappropriate

Joke

Black marketing

So when someone sticks razor blades

Into Halloween apples

It sells the season, the right mix of cute and creepy,

Market penetration

Saying it with a smile

Reddened gums and he sniffs a lot

Perpetual nasal drip

But still

Poison in painkillers

A serial killer using a particular brand

Of weapon, shaking videos

Highlighting the name

Chuckling, he says

Companies pay to keep this

Stuff out of the press

But it helps

No one stopped drinking

Coke after the death squads in

Bottling plants

Boycotts are viral too

Changing a product name

Paying someone to complain

(There’s always a verbose child

Asking a pointed question)

I ask what company he works for

Laughing, he says

I’m a consultant.

They come to me.

We exchange numbers

And as he walks through the airport,

I wonder if he’ll be a good person

To know during the apocalypse

Either as its architect

Or someone knowing when

Something truly awful

Goes viral

Bacterial

Nuclear

Mushroom clouds spilling

Radioactive retweets

Blind, mewling likes

With their parent’s faces

i feel a sudden urge

to hold someone i love

ask them to put the phone down

and look at me

like i’m in the room