Thursday January 2nd, 2014

The exercise:

Write about: the placebo.

Took the family into town this morning to get Max some new shoes for his ever expanding feet. I don't know if you've ever gone shoe shopping with a toddler, but it's quite the experience. At least it was for us.

Max refused to walk when the salesperson was within sight, so it was quite the process of trying on shoes, getting the guy selling them to us to hide, and then getting Max to walk in them to see how well they worked.

Thankfully we found something that worked on the third try. Otherwise we might still be there now.

Mine:

Placebo:
The triumph
Of mind over body.

The story
Of perception
Conquering reality.

Take your pill,
Quiet your doubts,
Believe with all your heart.

Just relax,
Know it works,
And let the healing start.

2 comments:

Greg said...

From what you've said before, Max isn't shy around new people really, so I wonder what about the salesperson was a problem for him? That does sound exactly right for taking children shoe shopping though -- thankfully I don't live anywhere cold enough to have to buy shoes for puppies!
I really like your poem today, I read it three times already! The whole thing just pulls together really nicely for me, with the structure of the verses adding a slightly dreamy quality to it. Really great work!

The placebo
Julie stood by the side of her car, strobe-lit by the flashing blue lights of the patrol car that had pulled her over. She had her hands laid one over the other on the back of her head, and her legs were slightly akimbo. Somewhere in darkness the police officer was pointing a gun at her.
"They're sweets," she said. "Placebos. Call my doctor, she'll explain."
There was a rattle; she guessed that the police officer was shaking the bottle. She'd thought it cute that it looked like a pill-bottle when the chemist dispensed them, but now she wasn't so sure. "Please," she said again. "Call my doctor. The number's on the label on the bottle."
There was silence and she wondered if the police officer was listening. Then there was a sudden patch of illumination, and she could see a pair a nostrils, and then it moved and she could see an ear. The police officer was phoning. She shuddered with relief.
"Are you sure?" said the police officer, and now she could hear that she was female. "Control of strong hallucinations? Well, it looks empty. Uh-huh. That's a real thing? Uh-huh. Oh shit...."
There was a flash and a bang as the gun fired, and one body fell to the ground.

Marc said...

Greg - well he's become a little more shy in recent months, so it wasn't totally unusual.

Thank you for the very kind words on mine!

Great little scene you have here. Really liked the pacing and that ending is wonderfully vague :)