The Tragic Tale of the Erlenmeyer Flask

The Tragic Tale of the Erlenmeyer Flask
by david applegate


as i sat in chemistry
and gazed upon my flask
i pondered a quick question
a question i would ask


who was Erlenmeyer?
what’s his story, what’s his fable?
why does this flask bear his name,
sitting on my table?


Erlenmeyer ghost appeared
and told me the whole story
he left in all the little details,
the sorrow, and the glory


when he reached the end of his
bizarre soliloquy
he knocked my flask onto the floor
and blamed it all on me


the teacher made me scrub the desks
a wretched, boring task
and that is the tragic tale
of Erlenmeyers flask.