Saturday, January 27, 2018

101 Books, Number 52



52: Arrowsmith, 1925, by Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)

I read this book in high school—why?
I wasn’t such a reading guy
Back in those ancient days gone by.

So ... Arrowsmith—a doctor, Yo,
Who did his research so he’d know
What drugs were yes, what drugs were no.

A plague arrived—he found a cure—
And he could really not endure
Those doctors who were purely pure

And wanted to, well, test some more
Before they used it—What a corps
Of cowards! So our hero swore

That he would use it—use it now!
And cure the multitudes—and—wow!—
It worked—he’d known it would, somehow.

I later saw his boyhood town*—
And read the works that brought renown**—
A few remain—I’ll buckle down ...

… And read them.

*Sauk Centre, Minn.; we visited on July 1, 2006
**Main Street, Babbitt, It Can’t Happen Here, etc.

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