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Therapy

—After “Help! I Can’t Stop Speaking
in Iambic!” by Cynthia Erlandson

Help! I can’t stop writing psychobabble!
No matter what I pen, it comes out gabble.

I scribble nonsense verses all the time,
self-actualize through crafting metered rhyme.

Long past the age of addled, callow youth,
I’m still endeavoring to find my truth.

That I’m quite co-dependent is a worry.
Perhaps I’m borderline? My self seems blurry.

“Sit down, be quiet!”: my elders’ sovereign word.
I soothe my inner child. She’s seen and heard.

“You mind your manners,” Mother lectured me.
Now mindfulness refers to Buddha’s knee.

Priests taught hellfire’s the price for mortal sin.
No. Merely my bad choices do me in.

My kin who push my buttons when they’re rude
have issues. Calmly, I assay each mood.

My cousin—feckless drunk—supposedly
(I must be kind!) is in recovery.

I’ve always known that gossips cause great hurt.
They’re toxic people: stay on high alert!

Before, a liar had his pants on fire.
Today, he gaslights like a suave vampire.

I stuff my feelings at huge psychic cost.
A primal scream might clean my mental fust.

These couplets are a game of hit and miss.
Applaud me, please! Then I can claim my bliss!

.

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Mary Jane Myers resides in Springfield, Illinois. She is a retired JD/CPA tax specialist. Her debut short story collection Curious Affairs was published by Paul Dry Books in 2018.

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5 Responses

  1. Paul Freeman

    Claim away. You’ve hit many a nail on the head.

    Thanks for the read, Mary.

    Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    I am glad your therapy’s begun. I hope that you are never done.

    Reply
  3. Warren Bonham

    I’ll add more applause so you can claim your well-deserved bliss. No misses with your couplets here.

    Reply
  4. Joseph S. Salemi

    A nice collection of psychobabble terminology. I find it good practice to get up and walk away whenever someone uses these italicized words and phrases in conversation. It’s rude, but it makes a point.

    Reply
  5. Jeff Minick

    Hilarious and brilliant. I broke out laughing in the coffee shop where I sometimes write.

    Reply

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