Music Theory For The Bored And Confused Poem by Mark Leci

Who gave music its name?
It was Boethius, tinkering with treble and bass
Like screwdrivers
Falling in piles and arpeggios
He broke up the Romans into
Seven strokes of a brush
Seven notes black as pine
Rushing towards a stop
As brittle as an empire

And who placed the notes on the lines
Stuck them there
With his tongue lolling from his mouth?
Italy's sheepdog
Guido D'Arezzo
Symbolist entrepreneur
Lover of paste and water:
He carries the notes to the vine
And pushes them in
Like God making grapes