fourteen

The Madison Avenue advertising man
enters the posh offices of Drastus, LLC,
in the Pont Mirabeau
on a glorious Tuesday morning.

"I just brought by some ideas,"
he says.
He always begins his presentations this way.
It's a successful formula.

He spells out his plan
to give Drastus total saturation presence
in the Parisian mediascape:
television, radio, film!

Plus billboards, crossbranding,
L'internet. All of it.
The directors ask questions
which he answers cheerfully.

The Madison Avenue advertising man
has dreamt of the Drastus account for months.
It could really open the door
to much bigger things.

He graciously accepts the coffee offered him
by the smartly dressed young secretary,
though she reeks faintly of the grave
and has drooled blood into the saucer.