Emerg Infect DisEmerging Infect. DisEIDEmerging Infectious Diseases1080-60401080-6059Centers for Disease Control and Prevention3369582AD-080210.3201/eid0802.AD0802Another DimensionAnother DimensionDread-Bound NewsDread-Bound NewsHaugoZoeAtlanta, GeorgiaAddress for correspondence: EID Editor, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop D61, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA; email: eideditor@cdc.gov2200282218219Keywords: antimicrobial resistanceTaiwanIt is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
“Asphodel, That Greeny Flower” by William Carlos Williams, a physician and poet
We cower under stars and stripesWhile horrors unfold and threaten the futureArmies, governments, news houndsChase their tails and the tales of violence,But the crucial culprit, collective fear,Pervades our lives.Fear that infectious disease of humans,With strains varied as the common cold,Has no vaccine or cure and lurks disguised,Evades diagnosis.In fear we cannot, must not hideFrom the public info-networkThat slams us with a headline epidemicPrompting us to wade in the bay of panic.The enemy’s friend and foe,It gives voice to the great unknown,Paints faces on the monsterWho hides under our beds.United, we wait for disasterFearing to suck our thumbs,Lest mama's apron strings be dusted with anthrax.A germ becomes a giant!Suggested citation: Haugo Z. Dread-Bound News [another dimension]. Emerg Infect Dis. [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Feb [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid0802.AD-0802