SHRINKING THE SHRINK
Michael Berger

Depression hurt;
tears freely flowed,
face frowning.
His marriage had come
apart.
Work was a prison;
Prozac didn't help.

The patient was a shrink
of long-standing.
He fell apart when
his wife had the affair.

The blow to his
oversized ego
was too much to bear.
He said that he
forgave but he couldn't
forget.

Visions of his wife
in another man's arms
haunted him day and night.

So I asked him straight away,
"How does that make you feel?"

CP

Michael Berger was a practicing psychotherapist for 30 years, published in numerous professional journals and also author of two books of short stories. Besides writing, his many pursuits include sculpting, painting, gardening, and baking bread. He says his focaccia is to die for.