Hal Sirowitz

Hal Sirowitz lives in Flushing, New York. He has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. He has appeared on MTV's "Spoken Word Unplugged" and at the Lollapalooza Festival; he has been featured on PBS's "The United States of Poetry" and on NPR's "All Things Considered." His collection of poems entitled MOTHER SAID was published in 1996. Following are a few pieces from his second book, MY THERAPIST SAID, which was just published (March 1998). He doesn't have email, but Jackie Simmons will be happy to forward any comments at jackie203@aol.com.

CLOSING YOUR EARS

Your mother called me, my therapist said, & was very concerned about you. She said you look lifeless. I told her you've been making great progress. She said that I must be crazy. I told her that I'm a psychiatrist. I can't be crazy. Then she told me about this crazy psychiatrist she heard on the radio. I just let her talk. I realized it was useless to argue with her. And that's what you should do. Just because smeone is talking doesn't mean that you have to listen.

FREEDOM MEANS

NOTHING TO LOSE

When you knew your father was dying, my therapist said, you thought if you

got married it'd please him. So you got into some painful relationships. You were ready to get married until you got dropped. But now that he's dead you're free. You don't have to marry anyone. You can get into painful relationships just for the hell of it.

THE PILLS I'M GIVING YOU

You should take medication, my therapist said. You need to think of yourself as having diabetes. A diabetic has to take insulin because he can't metabolize sugar. And you got the wrong type of attention when you were growing up,so you lack love. You only have so much energy, & you're using all yours up feeling sad. But if you take tranquilizers, you'll have energy left over to do what you want. No one has to know you're taking them. You can swallow them when people aren't looking. And if they knew what you were taking, they'd ask you if they could have some, too.

Hal Sirowitz