first
there was Dr. Stewart
mustachioed dandy sported
tweed three piece suit
gold rimmed spectacles
$350/hr for this
poor man’s Jung to
ask me over & over again 
“What’s it all about Alfie?”
at 22 i had no clue

second
there was Dr. Perl
peering into fissures in my shell
her sad opalescent eyes pooled
behind thick lensed tortoiseshell frames
when i asked her
at 30 going on 16
“do people actually stay in love
for more than six months?”

third
there was Dr. Ford
green-eyed feline
smirking Sphinx-like
at my questions
knowing i had already cribbed 
the answers by my 33^rd birthday
but face myself
i could not 

fourth
came Dr. Friedman
a Simpson’s caricature
of matronly Judaica
who didn’t understand
how at 43
43 oy!  
i still believed that you
yes you were the Shekhinah 
imprisoned in this world

fifth & sixth
a pair of forgettable late-comers
thanks to the State of Illinois
medicaid & the 13^th Judicial Circuit Court
intertwining twin serpents one
speaking only truth & one
spitting only lies
but which to believe
my 46^th year
simple 
but not easy