The Successful Eradication

     
                               Janet Parker

Was the last human

                                    To die

                                              Of Smallpox

On a cold day in September of 1978

Smallpox had been

               A rampant killer of men

                                Children and Poets, Matrons and Kings

                                For 10,000 years and more

                                But none in the last 34

In the 20th century 

The historical record shows

That Smallpox ushered 500 million to the gates of Hell

And blinded millions that survived

Leaving millions more who wished they were dead

                    Men set out

                            To assassinate this decimator of humanity

                    That had killed 2 million as recently as 1967

                    A little more than a decade elapsed

                            And the little enemy was defeated

Edward Jenner

Who had noticed milkmaids were immune

Pronounced vaccination

Would save the world

And he was right

All hail Edward Jenner