#placebo
Forty years of drawing circles in the salt,
While checking the $pH$ of the soil and the fault.
He cites the Second Law—how everything must fray—
Then lights a black candle to keep the heat-death at bay.
A Capricorn’s rigor; a cynic’s sharp tongue,
Collecting the soot where the censers have swung.
He knows that the sigil is just a cognitive hack,
A glitch in the grey matter, painting it black."Placebo,"
he whispers, while etching the floor,
Then invokes a demon he claims to ignore.
It’s a statistical outlier, a ghost in the code,
A shortcut through logic on a very dark road.
The grimoire is leather, the laptop is chrome,
He’s mapped out the stars and the human genome.
He doesn't "believe"—that’s a word for the weak;
He simply observes the results that he seeks.
For if gravity’s constant, and light has a speed,
Then surely a curse is just a focused-ion need.
He’s fifty, he’s tired, his joints hum with rain,
A lifetime of seeking the ghost in the brain.
He pours out the wine, though he knows it’s just grape,
To the dark, silent forces that give matter its shape.
Science is how the grand engine is greased,
But Magick? That’s just... how you talk to the beast.
Feb 2
Feb 2, 2026 at 10:16 PM UTC
We were tight, but it falls apart as silver turns to blue
Waxing with a candlelight, and burning just for you
Allocate your sentiment, and stick it in a box
I've never been an extrovert, but I'm still breathing
Someone tried to do me ache
Someone tried to do me ache
Someone tried to do me ache (it's what I'm afraid of)
Someone tried to do me ache (it's what I'm afraid of)
With hindsight, I was more than blind, lost without a clue
Thought I was getting carat gold, and what I got was you
Stuck inside the circumstances, lonely at the top
I've always been an introvert
Happily bleeding
Someone tried to do me ache
Someone tried to do me ache
Someone tried to do me ache (it's what I'm afraid of)
Someone tried to do me ache (it's what I'm afraid of)
4, 7, 2, 3, 9, 8, 5, I gotta breathe to stay alive
And 1, 4, 2, 9, 7, 8, feels like I'm gonna suffocate
14, 16, 22, this skin that turns to blister blue
Shoulders toes and knees, I'm 36 degrees
Shoulders toes and knees, I'm 36 degrees
Shoulder toes and knees, I'm 36 degrees
Shoulders toes and knees, 36 degrees
Dec 3, 2025
Dec 3, 2025 at 2:27 PM UTC
Nicotine is making a comeback
analog cigarettes are making a comeback
so many students are nicotine positive.
Every girl has Zyn by her drink at the bar
which used to be seen as a BRO-y vibe.
I’m not taking a view, I’m unbothered by it.
because
I’m hooked as well - I might as well admit it.
I’m into placebos these days and and I’m abjectly
rendered dumb by their unspeakable pleasures.
I went to an acapella concert last night and ***
I was mollywhopped (knocked out).
.
.
Acapella songs for this:
They - The Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones
Finesse (Remix) by The SoCal VoCals
Viva La Vida by Buffalo Chips
24k Magic by Acasola
.
....
Trump has everyone quivering
he cornholed those cowards at CBS
but you know who ain’t backing down?
South Park. I LOVE those guys.
Trigger warning. This is EXPLICIT and hilarious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afetnw70S04
...
Jul 24, 2025
Jul 24, 2025 at 9:22 PM UTC
Life is a placebo.
Endless obstacles,
difficulties to overcome.
Eyes set on goals
we'd thought we'd achieve
even if it drained us
of all but an inkling
of hope.
Lies on parchment
the truth of life,
and I am but a quotation,
repeating words of false hope
so others can believe
we don't all die
wishing to amend
even one
mistake.
Jul 23, 2025
Jul 23, 2025 at 8:59 PM UTC
Why did I think you could cure
all the aches and pains
I had held for years and more,
when you were never my remedy?
Every dose I took
was another ******* placebo,
and you'd have thought
I could tell this treatment wasn't working for me.
Jan 4, 2022
Jan 4, 2022 at 12:26 AM UTC
I'm by the window on the 5th floor
the view can only be described
as average
the clouds were in my head before
now they glide above the
hard stone bridge
observed from the window floor
alongside a placebo pill
and a bevarage.
Aug 9, 2021
Aug 9, 2021 at 11:19 PM UTC
financial insecurity
need not be the end,
we
need to go back and uncover
the skills thought lost forever
and learn to reuse them
the bartering system
more than just
and justly fair.
instead
we get ten pounds sterling
off a meal for the evening
God help us all.
Jul 8, 2020
Jul 8, 2020 at 2:27 PM UTC
How do I know if it's love?
Does a simple moment take control of my mind
Focusing on the sweetest words I heard you say
Grasping at the tendrils of a beautiful future
How do you know that it's love?
Does calling my name cause your heart to stop
Staring into my soul makes you lose yourself
To a sea of vibrant words and passionate eyes
How do we know that it's love?
Do we veil reality with a beautifully woven cloth
Whispering from our honey coated lips
Shivering from a sweetness convinced it's nothing but pure
Aug 2, 2018
Aug 2, 2018 at 3:51 PM UTC
fulfill painful
unify placebo
cultivate shiv
kind abjure
Jun 14, 2018
Jun 14, 2018 at 12:00 PM UTC
He was
Later found to be
A Placebo
Still
She’s addicted
To
Her trust
is keeping
hold
Calm
Euphoric
Dreamy, She was
After all.
Mar 26, 2018
Mar 26, 2018 at 8:33 PM UTC
Painted characters
Adding life to it
Scarlet imaginations
White, Black, Blue
Missing the object,
While grasping it’s shadow
Illusion of hope,
Nothing of what seems, everything
Complicated questions,
Answers within
Seeking the peace,
With loaded weapon
A placebo effect,
Of reason and faith
Thinking, obstacle is the path
Effort to undress, a naked man
Remedies worsen than the illness
Doubting everything,
In the zero hour
Doubting everything,
Way to find a truth
Emptiness is a new fullness.
Feb 17, 2018
Feb 17, 2018 at 9:02 PM UTC
***Pretended to be medicine,
proven to be placebo....
But the healing occurred,
Let it go....***
Dec 10, 2017
Dec 10, 2017 at 6:40 PM UTC
What is the best placebo?
Paste a smile, and off you go,
Best to leave the scene,
No point being too mean,
We are all mere human beings,
Smiles are a placebo, it seems.
Mar 18, 2017
Mar 18, 2017 at 10:50 PM UTC
With a pocketful of medicine,
And an optimistic air,
I set out to cure the world.
I had no idea, when I first set out,
Just how far my journey would take me.
I had dreams of dragons,
Heroic battles, and the vast expanse
Of the seemingly endless sea
Racing through my mind.
My friends, not knowing the true
Reason for my adventurous ways,
At first tried to discourage me;
Convincing me that to help myself;
To put myself above all others,
Would be, if not nobler,
Then at least more sensible.
Ah! My friends! Did you not realise,
That you were just encouraging
My foolish deeds more so?
For me, true happiness lies
In the smiles of others, and
The joys I inspire.
I find no pride in accomplishing
Deeds that fulfill other needs;
Diplomas and job offers
Sail over my head, and I
Pay them no heed.
Such accomplishments should be
Left (in my opinion), to kings,
And emperors, and others
Who I pay little regard to,
Who find such happiness
At receiving a scrap of paper
With not a jot of poetry on it.
I remain of the servile class.
By my own admission and actions,
I shun those who would have me
Believe that my past life,
The one in which I ruled,
If not the world, than at least
The part of it I so ignorantly knew,
Was a happier one.
So far there have been no dragons,
Save for the ones I carry with me
In my imagination,
The heroic battles I fought
Have been with no-one but myself,
In the recesses of my mind,
And the vastness of the ocean,
Carries itself, past the distant shore,
And into the hearts of those I love.
As I reach into my pocket,
I find the goods I carry to be
No more than sugar pills-
A placebo of the mind, that
I am told is good for nothing
By learned physicians, who know
Far more on the subject than I.
Thus I find myself in this foreign land,
With nothing but my optimistic air
To see me through.
I wish no more than to lend my hand,
And show others that I care.
Tell me; Is that a placebo too?
May 18, 2016
May 18, 2016 at 9:13 AM UTC
the rain fell so i kept my head down
chance alone piqued my interest and
through water-logged glasses i saw
him sitting on the front steps of an
old Lutheran church built from stone
in 1886 if the proud sign on the front
lawn was to be believed
the oak doors were chained shut
it's been four years since i asked myself
what would Jesus do
instead i wondered
what she'd do in my shoes
so i offered him my last slice
of Karma Kollision and he said
god bless you and i replied
stay warm
this world is cold
placebos like religion
might work miracles for Atlanta's
rich white mannequins
but sugar pills can't fill
a broken man's empty stomach
Jan 8, 2016
Jan 8, 2016 at 9:29 PM UTC
Why am I here?
Am I simply a placeholder
Sitting
In hopes of a way out
Maybe, no, yes, I'm just a placebo
Easing my way through a loophole
Accessing every cheat code
Now it seems I've run out of cheats
Taking them for granted to complete
Task after task after task.
Or, have I just run out of luck
Dreading this day
I guess it has struck
Even though I've been waiting for it.
Jun 14, 2013
Jun 14, 2013 at 1:22 AM UTC
Honesty today
equates
with the sale of reality
legally and expediently
as a placebo
for propaganda.
Jan 5, 2015
Jan 5, 2015 at 12:39 AM UTC
Placebo effect-
That's all it is.
An improper reaction to an absent chemical.
I believe it's there, oh I do,
But it isn't.
It wasn't.
It never will be.
But I will suffocate. Choke. Sputter. Convulse.
Because of the poison you injected into me.
(You never did.)
On my deathbed I blame you.
"He did this! He killed me!"
You're not capable of ******
You'd never hurt me, right?
You said so yourself.
But you did, didn't you?
How else would I be here?
Dead, or close to it-
And no one to blame but you.
"He poisoned me!"
They'll believe me.
I warned my friends.
Told them some of the truth.
But what's the real truth?
You'd never hurt me...
But I know you would.
And every time you smiled,
Or said something sweet,
You'd slip your poison into me.
(I tell myself.)
You'd never hurt me.
I only tell myself you would.
Dec 18, 2014
Dec 18, 2014 at 12:42 AM UTC
illusions of
escape velocity
for us became
placebos like
a gentle darkness
gumshoes into
disarray.
© Ben Ditmars 2014
Jul 31, 2014
Jul 31, 2014 at 2:11 PM UTC