Marion Deutsche Cohen
The Poet Fires Her Therapist
I am tired of the way you say I don't buy that. I wasn't selling. And I'm tired of that look in your voice. As my patient. I am tired of being owned. And in treatment. It's no longer a treat. Do you always smile when you're angry? I'm ready to smile again. What do you gain by that kind of thinking? I'm ready to think again. And how dare you not buy my books? How dare you not come to my readings? And the way you begin each session by Simply Staring And Waiting. You're as bad as my father. Also, That's more of a philosophical question. That doesn't really have anything to do with what we're discussing. I am ready to be philosophical again. And if, God forbid, I should say,How was your week? you snap Why do you ask that? I am ready to ask again. I'm ready to be personal again. I'm ready to be political again. I have a right to be ready. I'm ready to have a right.
Marion Deutsche Cohen's two recent books are Crossing the Equal Sign (Plain View Press, TX), poetry about the experience of mathematics, and Surviving the Alphabet (Huge Pathetic Force, PA), her first un-themed chapbook. Her books total 18, including Dirty Details: The Days and Nights of a Well Spouse (Temple University Press, PA). She teaches math at Arcadia University, in Glenside PA. Other interests are classical piano, singing, Scrabble, thrift-shopping, four grown children, and two grandchildren.
