Infectious Disease Summit 2012

Internal Monologue

2010-01-22T06:14:00.000-08:00

Cmon cmon cmon…FINALLY!
ugh, oh no… move people, move!
Wow… way too close.
What’s that smell?
I think it’s him
Hey, she’s kind of cute
WHOA! Excuse me!
Wait…where’s my wallet?
Ah, there it is…
I doubt learning English would make her THAT happy
Why is that homeless man staring at me
Who carries a bag that big?
Really buddy? Really?
Oh good, express, everyone out of here…
Much better…now where’s that cute girl.

“Stand clear of the closing doors please”

An Awakening on I-4

2010-01-11T13:25:00.001-08:00

"Yeah did you see the way she looked at me?
I think she was...."

And that was it.
This is where the conversation ended
What followed was a blood curdling scream and the blinding shine of headlights.
And then it goes black.

I wake up to a horrible stench.
I'm still in the car
My mouth feels like I'm chewing on glass.
Most of my body is numb.
What is that smell?
It smells like a combination of shit and burning rubber.
I hear a voice
"are you guys okay?"
I try to answer.
I try to say "yeah I'm okay!"
I can't lie
All that comes out is a groan.
I look at the seat in front of me.
I see her blonde head laying back against the headrest.
I figure she must have passed out.
It was the last time I'd ever see her blonde head again.
And then it goes black.

I wake up and I'm in the hospital.
They are checking me for internal injuries.
They're giving me a sonogram or ultra sound... whichever one doesn't mean I'm pregnant
I ask the nurse if I'm going to have twins or triplets
She laughs nervously
She knows the very real chance that I may die
And then it goes black.

I wake up to see my parents standing over my bed
Where am I?
What happened?
Why am I in the hospital?
The last four hours have been erased from my memory
The crash
The stench
The blonde head leaning on the headrest.
I ask for my brother
My parents tell me he's coming soon.
I'm so confused.
And then it goes black.

I wake up briefly
My lung has collapsed during the night
I have a tube down my throat
Its keeping me alive
I see my mom standing over my bed crying
I see a family friend with a book of prayers
She is praying for me.
I look at my mother and try to signal to her
I ask her what this lady is doing
I can't speak
It hurts to live
And then it goes black.

They have upped my morphine drip
I'm what they call a "difficult patient"
The black night nurse yells at me
Tells me to behave,
Tells me to stop making noise,
I'm confused and alone
She turns my morphine drip even higher.
And then it goes black.

I wake up
I'm not in the hospital anymore
I'm in Whoville
I see Thing one and Thing two
They want to play games.
I can't play
I can't keep my head up
My head falls forward
I'm choking myself
I snap back to reality and realize I am sitting upright in a chair
A chest brace has been strapped in tightly
The intense amount of morphine has caused me to hallucinate
It has also limited my brain and my muscles' communication
My head continues to fall forward
The chest brace is cutting off my airflow
My face begins to turn blue
I try to get someone's attention
That fucking morphine
I can't move
I can't breath
I begin to cry
Suddenly Thing One realizes what is going on
She jumps forward and holds my head up
I'm embarrassed by my tears
As the color returns to my face I begin to relax
And then it goes black.

I wake up and I realize I am back home
My brother is by my side
My parents are by my side
My friends are by my side
They say its going to be a long road to recovery
They say its going to be tough
Well fuck what they say
They said I was going to die, yet I live
They said I was never going to walk again, yet I run
They said I would need a cane, yet I am free.
I was saved that day
I should not be here writing this story, but I am
Why? I don't know.
But I do know that I'll spend the rest of my life trying to find out.
And it will never go black again.

Ok... I had to post this

2010-01-09T11:06:00.001-08:00

Cold Day in Paradise

2010-01-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

It's an unusually cold night in Miami tonight
The news reports temperatures in the 40s
30s with the wind chill
The locals don their thickest/darkest coats
It is, after all, rude to wear bright colors to a wake.

Pac Man Explained

2009-12-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

Monogomy

2009-11-23T11:49:00.000-08:00

I had a wife
A loving, caring, boring wife
A wife that has always been there for me through the good and the bad
She helped me become the man I am today
She gave me a good home
She's good to my family
She's reliable in every way imaginable

Her dullness began to creep into my head
I began to resent her with every passing day
I felt I had committed too early
I was too young to be tied down
I could not take it anymore
My eyes began to wander
And thats when I saw her

She was beautiful
She was exotic
She was exciting
She was loud
She was easy
She was dirty
She was everything I've ever wanted
She was different.

My new mistress makes me sleep on the couch
She spends all of my money
I think I'm in love her

My wife still waits for me although I left her
She will always wait
One day, maybe I will return to her
But for now, I will enjoy my new love, my new mistress
my new city

Two Way Street

2009-11-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

You talk about friendship
Yet you never hold up your end.
I call, you don't answer
I write, you don't respond
I wait, you don't show

I'm done waiting
I'm through writing
I'll stop calling

Enjoy your new life

An Awakening at Radio City Music Hall

2009-11-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

I saw someone tonight who looked like you from behind
She had the same hair, the same body, the same spunk
She was there with a guy
I noticed the way she hugged him
I saw the way she sang to him
I looked at the way she looked at him
and I realized. You will never look at me like that.

And it helped.

Inspiration

2009-11-23T11:29:00.001-08:00

Inspiration strikes
suddenly
quickly
abruptly.
Leaving you wanting and confused.

Words pour from your fingers
like tears
from a newly wed
over her young husband's lifeless corpse.