placebo physician

 ‘placebo’ is Latin for ‘I will please’

as a physician i have wondered why

my simply listening to some patients

has brought them more relief than

prescriptions or treatments

until finally i began to realize

that  i was not curing anyone

that the best i could for anyone

was to set as many factors as i could

in their favor so that something greater

than either of us could heal them

when persons experience being heard they listen to themselves as well

and often hear their own priorities

and see where they are caught

in traps of delusion or fear

how often i was placebo, listening

but it was not me who pleased

but acted merely as conduit

to that individual’s recognition

of strengths within