A Pack of Picky Pinky Panthers

I am back at work illustrating the chapter “Barrier Beasts” for my book “You Look Great! Making Invisible Disease Visible.”  This chapter is a satirical look at the intimidating barriers patients sometimes face in determining diagnoses of illnesses that have no one specific physiological marker, but require an accumulation of several physical manifestations that can be added up and tabulated for a definitive “score.”  This can be seen in such illnesses as Ehlers-Danlos, which a revised nosology added, at least on the Beighton scale, more stringent conditions for diagnosis.  For example, patients could be granted a point on the scale in flexibility for the pinky finger’s ability to bend up to or beyond 90 degrees.  This was changed slightly to read only “Beyond 90 degrees,” the cut off barrier to diagnosis moved just slightly higher. 
My satirical drawing and rhyme for this is called “A Pack of Picky Pinky Panthers.”  The rich background of this drawing is derived from the landscape of Norway, where I am at present.

A Pack of Picky Pinky Panthers

You can raise your pinky to ninety degrees
But you’ve only just begun
To unlock our gates of entry, please
bend little finger to ninety plus one

We have changed our minds, that won’t quite do
Little finger must bend more
It must bend to ninety degrees plus two
Don’t complain it makes you sore

That still does not look right to us
More points you must accrue
Pinky must bend back ninety-nine degrees plus
Or we’ll turn you in to glue

With your palm flat upon a table
bend pinky up to three o’clock
Then we’ll see if you are able
at the same time to lift a rock

Don’t cry and call us panthers mean
We only must be sure
Your pinky should bend to three fifteen
Or we will not allow you through our door