Elegy on the death of a pemphigus patient

With a stink too powerful to say

In a corner ICU bed, he lay

His dermis was bare

His epidermis peeled off in layers

A death-like pallor in his eyes

With the pain that never dies

He took the last gasp of sighs

As the battle went from lows to highs

Yet in his heart, he knew his fate

A price paid for being too late

Spewed from his body’s own hate

Against his skin, in relentless spate

Yet in the valley of coma and sleep

Once more, he walked with a speedy leap

To his golden farmland, harvested heap

Or to his family, a love too deep.

Yet Pemphigus in one fell swoop

Pain and misery’s endless loop

A life lost too soon

As death in large before him did loom

And death, like a master, ended his pain

Forever freeing him from Pemphigus’ chain

A young dermatologist’s efforts lay in vain

Despite the lesson, the only gain.

Note: With the availability of newer drugs like rituximab, the outcome for pemphigus has improved dramatically. While death from pemphigus is now rare, delay in presentation remains the most common cause of fatalities.