Ebers Papyrus from National Library of Medicine. Found in Egypt in the 1870s, the Ebers Papyrus contains prescriptions written in hieroglyphics for over seven hundred remedies. This prescription for an asthma remedy is to be prepared as a mixture of herbs heated on a brick so that the sufferer could inhale their fumes. Credit: National Library of Medicine, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
(As Defined by the Ebers Papyrus)
By Julie Standig
Tinnitus can you drive you crazy,
lead to dementia, Alzheimer’s, depression,
the basic nervous breakdown. No cure,
deal with the buzz. She’s all inner ear electric.
Not necessarily a constant,
but she did just seem to appear—and she cycles,
comes in waves—waves that never crash
but retreat and return, slowly, like the moon.
When she first came out I didn’t think
she was in my head.
The florescent in the laundry room needs fixing.
Tinnitus puts the common ear worm to shame.
The Ebers concocted an infusion of frankincense,
aegyptiaca oils plus two more unknown exotic
ingredients that went into the ear. Unknown.
Could be any combo of Guarana, Maca,
Almond oil, Green tea. Nowadays we promise
solutions with a haptic wristband or CBD
gummies—who knows? You might just cure
a depressed mind or perhaps lose ten pounds.
Well Tinnitus—screw you. I tune out
countless others, I can do the same to you.
Julie Standig has been published in Alehouse Press, Sadie Girl Press, After Happy Hour Review, Schuylkill Journal Review, US1 Poets/Del Val, Gyroscope Review, as well as in online journals. Her first full collection, “The Forsaken Little Black Book,” was released in October 2022 by Kelsay Books. To learn more, see juliestandig.com. The Ebers Papyrus, circa 1550 BCE, is called “the most extensive record of Ancient Egyptian medicine.”
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