Snake Oil

gray0328

 

Step right up, they said,  

with bottles the color of gold,  

labels boasting of miracles,  

cures crammed into tiny glass jars.  

 

They spoke with honeyed tongues,  

voices like warm blankets  

wrapping around our fears,  

cradling our hope too tightly.  

 

They knew the right words,  

the ones to make hands tremble,  

to pry open wallets and hearts

a trick older than time.  

 

The concoctions smelled of faith,  

tasted like desperation lingering,  

but we drank them down anyway,  

swallowed trust like a bitter pill.  

 

Not one of them knew  

the language of the body,  

how cells whisper to each other,  

how healing hums quietly within.  

 

Snake oil shimmered like salvation,  

but left us thirstier than before;  

every promise evaporating  

before the bottle ran dry.

  • Author: gray0328 (Offline Offline)
  • Published: June 3rd, 2026 11:00
  • Category: Unclassified
  • Views: 4
Comments +

Comments2

  • nephilim56 ( Norman Dickson)

    good write my friend

  • sorenbarrett

    A great poem of commercialism and pharmaceuticals of the bottom line and stock holder pressure, of doctors seduced and patients overmedicated believing that a pill can cure all. Snake oil now modernized. And in other forms too even media information called news. Then there is advertising of all merchandise. Well written Gray

    • gray0328

      You echoed my thoughts Soren



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