St. Aphyllo Kokisorius was a renegade Greek monk, after whom this nasty pathogen is named
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From Luke’s Journal March 2026 | Vol. 31 No. 1 | God at the Bedside
This pyogenic fellow grows in colonies of yellow
That are round and smooth when raised on Petri dishes,
But pathogenically invasive,
Metabolically persuasive,
Should he populate your person if he wishes.
Though normally he’s quiet, of course, unless your diet
Contains milk from bovines stricken with mastitis.
For the cramping he induces
from the toxin he produces
Bends you double, toilet tethered, weak and lifeless.
This coccal strain microbic, of necessity aerobic
Should remain quite passive, calm and not excite us
But if he squats on dodgy meats,
(or reheated cheesy treats)
You’ll have gastro–procto–colo–ileitis.
So, if your razor slashes turn to full-blown septic rashes
Or your osteomyelitis hasn’t healed
If your menacing furuncles
gallop on to huge carbuncles
Lance the phlegmon – swab and culture – he’s revealed!!
So, in abscess, inflammation, any focal suppuration
On the tonsil, toenail, pilonidal sinus
You will find the fiend, Staph Aureus,
quite Gram Positively glorious
knock ‘em awful crook from tramp to Royal Highness!!
Dr Harvey Ward
Dr Harvey Ward is a retired OBGYN after 40 yrs of practice – 28 years as a specialist in South Africa, Canada and Australia. He is married to Kathy, a physiotherapist, and has 3 children and 6 grandchildren. He has been in public and private practice in Coffs Harbour for 20 yrs with special interests in teaching, infertility, urogynaecology and high-risk obstetrics. He has been a CMDFA member for 40 yrs from student days. This poem was included on the menu for the Medics Ball in 1982! Harvey is a Saline ProcessTM Trainer and is currently studying the Shroud of Turin post-grad.