Ad LibitumMay 2023Star StuffMaryella Desak Sirmon, MDMaryella Desak Sirmon, MDUniversity of South Alabama Mobile, AlabamaSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M22-3070 Audio Reading - “Star Stuff” Audio. Michael A. Lacombe, MD, Annals Associate Editor, reads “Star Stuff” by Maryella Desak Sirmon, MD Your browser does not support the audio element. Audio player progress bar Step backward in current audio track Play current audio trackPause current audio track Step forward in current audio track Mute current audio trackUnmute current audio track 00:00/ SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail The cosmos is within us. We are made of star stuff.—Carl SaganBright star, light starwho are you and I?Atoms compress, nuclei merge into a melded mass of frosty fire flowing into your star-heart, until its core, too heavy to hold more, collapses under cosmic weight, your pivotal point convulses, splintering into sliversborn four billion years before my mother squeezed me through a black hole into light. Her fiery cries, my cold quivery whimpers echo your ancient, passionate paroxysm, birthing carbon and ‘gens’—oxy, hydro, nitro, delivering ingots of iron, zinc, nickel, goldJoni Mitchell was right …We are stardust, we are golden. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Maryella Desak Sirmon, MDAffiliations: University of South Alabama Mobile, AlabamaCorresponding Author: Maryella Desak Sirmon, MD; e-mail, [email protected]com. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement Audio Reading - “Star Stuff” Audio. Michael A. Lacombe, MD, Annals Associate Editor, reads “Star Stuff” by Maryella Desak Sirmon, MD Your browser does not support the audio element. Audio player progress bar Step backward in current audio track Play current audio trackPause current audio track Step forward in current audio track Mute current audio trackUnmute current audio track 00:00/ FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoWaiting for the Ambulance Maryella Desak Sirmon Fifty in the Sock Drawer Maryella Desak Sirmon Fifty in the Sock Drawer Maryella Desak Sirmon Waiting for the Ambulance Maryella Desak Sirmon Metrics Current IssueMay 2023Volume 176, Issue 5Page: 732 ePublished: 16 May 2023 Issue Published: May 2023 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2023 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...