I’m going to give
you a made-up history
that I believe
is somewhat true.
Proximity’s anatomy.
Anatomy’s anonymity.
Anonymity’s injury.
Injury’s scenery.
Scenery’s alchemy.
Alchemy’s drift.
Drift’s scatter.
Scatter’s devotion.
Devotion’s murmur.
Murmur’s suspension.
Suspension’s vestige.
Vestige’s table.
Table’s paragraph.
Paragraph’s fricative.
Fricative’s bagpipe.
Bagpipe’s dichotomy.
Dichotomy’s city.
City’s lantern.
Lantern’s arrow.
Arrow’s bloom.
Ellen Noonan earned her M.F.A. at Emerson College and is a lecturer in the English Department at Northeastern University. Her poems have been published in the University Reporter, Spectrum, Beacon Street Review, and the Eunoia Review. She attended the inaugural session of the Ashbery Home School in August 2014. She lives in West Roxbury, MA, with her husband, two daughters, and a rescue dog.
Image: “Tube Screamer Mini,” from Buddy Beaudoin’s Pedalsmut Series
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