The Analyst & The Naif

Chorus

A master of Freudian seduction

Proposed, indeed, when not on bended knee

Her composure cleft with this injunction:

 

Analyst

Pray, enough ’bout Bob.  How feelst thou…’bout me?

 

Chorus

She’d asked her oncologist

For a real good therapist.

Instead, what she got was this:

 

Analyst

Dr. Nachman here.  How mayst I help thee?

 

Naïf

I’d like an appointment, please. My name’s Kate.

 

Analyst

Might I inquire, miss, what thine issue be?

 

Naïf

I wanna make sure that my head’s on straight.

Y’see, I think I’ve compartmentalized.

 

Analyst

What meanest thou, miss, by that turn of phrase?

 

Naïf

I plan on nursing, and I recognize

For me to show compassion in my gaze,

I need to make sure that my heart and head

Are connected so that I don’t chatter

About myself, ‘cuz the one in the bed?

What they’re feeling is what really matters.

 

Chorus

At that last, he was completely enthralled

And in love with her mind he’d deeply…falled.

 

At this juncture, ’tis germane

To explain via quatrain…

More precisely, septquatrain,

For four lines cannot contain

Ample, vibrant mise-en-scene

Sufficient to full explain

How much this heretofore urbane,

Unflappable chatelain

Had to struggle to abstain

While escorting this fair dame

Into his private, Freudian fane,

His psychoanalytic domain

Where, until now, he had reigned,

His heart free, but his mind chained

To the ramblings, some insane,

Some charming, some scatterbrained,

Of patients he’d entertained

Again, again and again,

‘Til the moment she laid claim,

Unabashed, unashamed,

To his black velvet terrain

That would never be the same

Once she’d splayed her silken mane

O’er his pillow while he feigned

Detachment.

 

When control he gained

Of his thundering heartbeat, tamed

By mental legerdemain,

So that he might present sane

Himself, not rattled, nor inane,

Settling then his lanky frame

And taking a deep breath, began…

 

Analyst

So, tell me all about your mother, miss.

 

Feature image courtesy of Fotolia

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *