open sky :: SAMVAAD/ 5th January
- sanjuktaa
- Jan 5
- 1 min read
hosts : Sanjuktaa Asopa & Aparna Pathak
suspecting mine
is the placebo …
January moon
-- paul m.
( Winning poem in the Betty Drevniok Award,2022; published in Red Moon Anthology, 2022; also included in the poet's recent collection Magnolia Diary )
I agree with Joanna - this one needs to be read and reread to really appreciate the nuances of the ku
Here is the backstory by the poet.
I wrote this in early 2021, but didn't fix the final version until May of that year (according to my notes). The early draft was written right after I herniated another disc in my back and I had been put on a minor NSAID to reduce inflammation. It didn’t seem like it was working at first and I was reminded of how in medical studies some subjects are given placebos. I not-seriously wondered if I had been given such a pill. The moon was, I suspect, a later addition, and probably why the poem wasn’t “finished” until May. I like the parallel of the pill and moon’s shape, plus the way the pain…
One to keep on reading to fully appreciate the subtlety and the layers.