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Literature Annotations

Coulehan, Jack The Worm: Elderside Clinic, Jamaica

	On-Line Text and Audio
Genre	Poem
Keywords	Children, Developing Countries, Infectious Disease, Parasitic Disease, Poverty
Summary	Children wasting away, in pain, infected with parasites whose life cycle continues "bodies to fingers, / fingers to lips, of lips to eggs / and eggs to worms." That cycle is echoed in the human experiences of "loneliness to pangs of loss" and of "deep escape to deep connection." The actual parasites take on symbolic significance and become the worm that inhabits us all, whether we be sick kids or weary health care providers.
Source	First Photographs of Heaven
Publisher	Nightshade
Edition	1994
Place Published	Troy, Maine
Alternate Source	J. Med. Humanities: 15: 183 (1994)
Annotated by	Donley, Carol
Date of Entry	01/04/95
Last Revised	12/10/96