Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes

"Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes", also known simply as "Fleas", is a couplet commonly cited as the shortest poem ever written, composed by American poet Strickland Gillilan in the early 20th century.[1]

The poem reads in full:

Adam
Had 'em.

  1. ^ Shapiro, Fred R. (2006). Yale Book of Quotations. Yale University Press. p. 310. ISBN 978-0-300-10798-2. Retrieved 30 November 2015.