Three Poems – Brian S. Ellis

Marketing

Service arrives first.
It’s six AM in Old Town
and I have to ask a sleeping body
to get out of the doorway.
The Client is the Air Jordan Marketing Team.
Getting out of the office
for the yearly game-plan.
Breakfast and Lunch. I count flatware,
make coffee. Chef makes frittata.
Plates at eight.
Marketing picks at the food
like birds, like professionals.
Morning power-point
is on the other side of the half-wall.
The team’s director is talking about
elevated narrative. Peak performance 
experience. I bus silently in the dark.
I change tablecloths unseen.
I am surrounded by blueprints 
of million dollar sneakers.
The word Jordan means Success.
The word Jordan means Lethal Agility.
The team is confident about moving
into east Europe but they’re worried
about the brand in Chicago.
Sales are down in the very base
of the flight club.
A member of the team says,
“One of our problems is that
all our young J’s are getting shot.
What can we offer them if 
it’s not safe to step on the court?”
I am pouring house made
lemongrass soda when the question
is asked. I wonder what the person
who thought of the phrase Lethal Agility
looks like. The director clears his throat
“Love of the game.” He replies,
as if that answered anything.