Placebo Poem by Theresa Bubenzer

Placebo

I realize now why my life has been
Such a disaster
I am the leper with peeling skin
I am the shunned, mark of Cain child
Barely tolerated by the villagers
As I scrape by, hoping no one throws a stone
Eating the crusts left out for the birds
Drinking the rain water

It's because I am in the placebo group
I am in the Brand X group
I didn't get the real drug, the true cure
I just think it all works
Placebo friends and placebo jobs

If I believe it works, it will
I just have to keep taking the medication

Any day now, yeah, any day now
My skin will be whole
I will have white teeth
And my friends will come through for me

Any day now