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Poem

Claudia Emerson

Early Elegy: Smallpox

Early Elegy: Smallpox

Early Elegy: Smallpox

The world has certified itself rid of
all but the argument: to eradicate or not
the small stock of variola frozen,
quarantined – a dormancy it has
refused, just once, for a woman behind a sterile
lens, her glass slide a clearest, most
becoming pane. How could it resist slipping
away with her, that discrete first pock?

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Early Elegy: Smallpox

The world has certified itself rid of
all but the argument: to eradicate or not
the small stock of variola frozen,
quarantined – a dormancy it has
refused, just once, for a woman behind a sterile
lens, her glass slide a clearest, most
becoming pane. How could it resist slipping
away with her, that discrete first pock?

Early Elegy: Smallpox

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