Beginning in medias res, An Ode to Illness by sydnerella immediately hooks the reader to the intriguing poem. Who is this person? and What is happening? are the foremost questions that come to mind.

With an astonishingly powerful blend of imagery ("tomato red strands") and allusion ("a smiling ferryman"), sydnerella effectively evokes the feeling of isolation and dreamlike quality through which the poem is conveyed. Snippets of memories interwoven into the poem creates a sense of melancholy and weighs heavily on the minds of the reader.

The poem is very original, and the technique used to impact the readers is equally well done. sydnerella has created a strangely hypnotizing piece that needs to be read twice before judged.