ISSN: 1080-6059
Volume 15, Number 10–October 2009
Another Dimension
Red Snappers
Erin E. McConnell 
Author affiliation: Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA
Suggested citation for this article
for a moment pretend
you are not
the infallible house staff,
but the latest admission—
hacking putrid sputum
from your soulful depths
or your festering chest,
depending on your mood.
slapped with a mask,
you are secured in secluded rooms;
a paucity of guests,
but for the parade of absurd birds—
plastered in Haz-mat
lemon-yellow gowns,
and peach-colored beaks.
your meager dried-up sleep
is aborted by
bloodhungry fowl
covetous of mucus
you no longer produce.
your meals grow cold
waiting for you
in the anteroom of
your negative pressure purgatory.
Dr McConnell is a fourth-year resident in the Internal Medicine Pediatric Residency Program at Wayne State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
Suggested Citation for this Article
McConnel EE. Red snappers [another dimension]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the internet]. 2009 Oct [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/15/10/1707.htm
DOI: 10.3201/eid1510.090221
Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:
Erin E. McConnell, Wright State University, Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, 1 Elizabeth Place, NWG Suite 500, Dayton, OH 45408, USA; email: erin.mcconnell@wright.edu
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