The Rise and Fall of Boosts in ’24

A Narrative Tale

Read the poem version on Medium.

Say what you want without saying what it is. Photo by Matthew Bamberg

In 2024, it seemed like boosts were everywhere—until suddenly, they weren’t. The reasons were as varied as graffiti on city walls, cougars in the suburbs, and surfer boys on the coast. The fierce battles between doctors and physician assistants weren’t enough to explain why the boosts had dried up.

But the real warning? It was about the tools of the trade—the writing toys we wield. They had to fit the workplace, and failure to comply came at a cost. I’d encountered "noosts" in a publication I contributed to. They weren’t boosts, that much I knew. I wondered what they were—these elusive "noosts" that neither offered reward nor relief.

Editors had begun to submit their names, vying to play the final boost game. But there was a catch: get the tone wrong, and it bit hard, transforming a potential boost into a dreaded noost. I reflected on it all, feeling both mysterious and exhausted, recogn…