With Gratitude

I always have prized genius, think those who have it, GRAND,

I know that I have benefitted from the things they’ve planned,

But those that I admire the most are men and women, who

Have given healing miracles with won-der-ous breakthroughs!

 

Frederick Banting comes to mind—Canadian, like me,

With his assistant, Charles Best, found insulin, you see,

That tiny hormone in control of sugar in the blood,

Without which, your bloodstream can become as thick as mud!

 

When insulin’s deficient, comes diabetes mellitus,

An ailment quite as deadly as whatever we’d discuss,

Before the Banting and the Best, ‘No sugar!’ was the cry,

Controlling calories the way for people NOT to die!

 

Hear now, the scene: A children’s ward—beds filled with little ones,

All had reached the latest stage; diabetes course had run,

And then two men come through the door with syringes and vials,

Start giving shots to all the littles—insulin’s first trial!

 

And by the time they’d reached the last, the first had come awake,

Their diabetic coma done, their lives again to take,

Imagine parents going now, from deep despair to joy,

Looking once again into the eyes of girls and boys!

 

It makes me weep with gratitude—a miracle, it was,

A gift far better than those brought by jolly Santa Claus!

There’re many members of my family would not be here,

If not for those two men and all their work and research dear!

To those who gave us Insulin. And Penicillin, too,

Vaccines that have stopped smallpox, po-li-o and now the FLU,

I’m on my knees in gratitude, for life those doctors gave,

May God smile upon them all…and the millions they have saved.

Photo Credit: Karen of bakinginatornado.com

Cause Mondays do get knocked a lot,
With poetry, we all besought
To try to make the week begin
With gentle thoughts,
Perhaps a grin?
So Karen, Charlotte, Mimi, me
Have crafted poems for you to see.
And now you’ve read what we have wrought…
Did we help?
Or did we not?

Next week's our day in all the year,

We're CELEBRATING POETRY here!

Thinking of joining us for Poetry Monday?

We'd love to welcome you!
Topics for the next few weeks (with a huge thank-you to Mimi, who comes up with so many of them!)...

Genius Day (March 14) Today!
Celebrating Poetry (March 21) 
Respect Your Cat Day (March 28) (Richard II's 1384 edict forbidding eating them.)
Imperfection (April 4)

Pets (April 11)

Juggling (April 18)

Brothers (April 25)

Babies (May 2)

Music (May 9)

Purple for Peace (May 16)

Turtles (May 23)

Memorial Day (May 30)