I love Edward Gorey. He’s written all sorts of cool things. But my favorite is The Doubtful Guest. Here's a taste.

The Doubtful Guest arrives uninvited.

Then they saw something standing on top of an urn.

Whose peculiar appearance gave them quite a turn.

He imposes himself on his hosts.

It wrenched off the horn from the new gramophone.

And could not be persuaded to leave it alone.

And does all sorts of things that irritate, annoy, injure and generally reduce his hosts’ quality of life.

It would carry off objects of which it grew fond.

And protect them by dropping them into the pond.

The Doubtful Guest stays with his hosts for 17 years and “shows no intention of going away.”

In a beautiful and poetic way the Doubtful Guest personifies what residual symptoms are like after an injury.

Residual symptoms are uninvited and can range from annoying to harmful. They persist and over time significantly reduce quality of life if—by nothing else—just as a result of always being there.

I have not compared residual symptoms to The Doubtful Guest at trial. I realize Ed Gorey is somewhat bizarre and not to everyone’s tastes. But I have a strong temptation.

What do you think? Will it resonate or seem weird?