Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 I. FROM AN ANALYST’S NOTEBOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theological Countertransference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Snapshots of the Psychotherapist Taken by Himself Without a Camera and Sometimes in Bad Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 From an Analyst’s Notebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Tinnitus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 II. I ALWAYS DREAM OF SUBWAY TRAINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 I Always Dream of Subway Trains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Corn Soup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Snow Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Story As I Understand It Is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Bubbameises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Good Rumor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Kumquats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Monty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Unknown Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..30 Looking for Lola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Turtle Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Just Like Chicken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Beggar’s Chicken, Wellfleet, 1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Certain Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 What Is It About Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Acceptance Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 III. POEMS ON HOPPER PAINTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Poems on Hopper Paintings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 IV. SPALDEEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Spaldeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Ars Poetica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...50 Writer’s Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...51 The Sweetness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Angelology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...53 Summer Body, Winter Mango . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....55 Haircut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......57 The Heart Is Not The Red It Is Supposed To Be . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Grand Concourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Double Sonnet for My Parents in which Xavier Cugat Makes a Guest Apearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Reincarnation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......'64 Meditation on Love & Parrots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....65 Men Say Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........66 V. LOST CHORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......69 Pictures My Mother Left Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......71 Subway Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......75 For a Friend Who Likes to Think His Dead Father Is Watching Over Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........79 Lost Chord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...........81 About the Author: Henry Seiden is a psychologist and psychoanalyst who lives and practices in Forest Hills, New York. In his professional role, he is a member of the Board of Editors of Psychoanalytic Psychology and Division/Review, journals of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association. Within that role, he is co-author of Silent Grief: Living in the Wake of Suicide (Scribner’s, 1988), which has been translated into Chinese, Portuguese and Russian. Among his professional papers, some of which overlap with his knowledge of poetry and skill as a poet, are articles on Wallace Stevens and on using poetry in psychotherapy with children. He is also Poetry Editor of Division/Review. |