I’d like to hear
what our therapists would have to say
to each other. in a mythical world
where such a conversation
might be permitted and
not considered a gross violation
of our privacy (or HIPAA,
or the Hippocratic oath, or
some other dumb law),
I bet with an hour together
they could sort out our problems
in a trice – a jiffy, even.
yours could tell mine
all about your commitment issues
and fear of being rejected
so you preemptively deselect
anyone who doesn’t meet
your ever-changing criteria.
arrested development are two words
that could be bandied about.
mine could tell yours about my
addictive personality and desire to
submerge myself entirely in
another person, losing
all my identity and fearing
this excessive power over me
which I have given them,
I tend to resent the love object
and try to pick fights because
I only really believe in unhappy
endings, having seen them
modeled over and over again
growing up.
would they make bets
on who will win
this tug of war? we’re both
pretty stubborn, and quite
cunning in our defensive
self-sabotage. I know I, for one,
would like to hear
if there’s any way out
of this maze.
R. Brookes McKenzie 