Placebo
by Mea Andrews
Pla · ce · bo n. The scoop of armpit that cradles the crown of your head after a thirty six hour day. Nights when a full moon shines on a willow tree and the wind whispers ‘calm.’ That first tongue of pistachio when you were just starting to wonder if your brain could melt through your ears. Notice the stress is on the second syllable, it’s in the middle of your throat and down too fast to notice. If said in a cave, the echo barely registers.
From the Latin “placere,” to be amicable or pleasing.
Some every day placebos may include:
-A woman tucking her tongue behind her front row of teeth instead of telling her boss to kindly remove their hand from her shoulder/knee/thigh.
-A person of color wearing their hair in a more ‘societal appropriate’ style, rather than one that is more comfortable or representative of their own culture.
-When a man chooses to wear flat shoes instead of lifts despite the mounting pressure to be 6’1 on more than just his Tinder profile.
Placebo v. Not traditionally recommended.
Includes -ing and -ed forms.
For example:
-She was placeboing him, brushing his hair back with her fingertips while he recovered from the news.
-The bible placeboed my mother for years, it was the one thing she always turned to.
Synonyms include: Snake oil, traveling, the NRA and its western belief in household arms, rose quartz and barrier salt, A Group of Like-Minded People, the person whose back freckles you paint into constellations, astrology.
From the Latin “placere,” to be amicable or pleasing.
Some every day placebos may include:
-A woman tucking her tongue behind her front row of teeth instead of telling her boss to kindly remove their hand from her shoulder/knee/thigh.
-A person of color wearing their hair in a more ‘societal appropriate’ style, rather than one that is more comfortable or representative of their own culture.
-When a man chooses to wear flat shoes instead of lifts despite the mounting pressure to be 6’1 on more than just his Tinder profile.
Placebo v. Not traditionally recommended.
Includes -ing and -ed forms.
For example:
-She was placeboing him, brushing his hair back with her fingertips while he recovered from the news.
-The bible placeboed my mother for years, it was the one thing she always turned to.
Synonyms include: Snake oil, traveling, the NRA and its western belief in household arms, rose quartz and barrier salt, A Group of Like-Minded People, the person whose back freckles you paint into constellations, astrology.
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Mea Andrews is a writer from Georgia, who currently resides in China. She has just finished her MFA from Lindenwood University and is only recently back on the publication scene. You can find her in Vermilion, Rappahannock Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, and others. She is a current Pushcart prize nominee.
Instagram: mea_writes | Website: meaandrews.com |
