Saturday, June 2, 2012

Hal Sirowitz

Thanatos

I almost walked in the path
of a car. Was Freud right?
Did I have a death instinct

I wasn’t aware of? Was it
stronger than my life instinct
on this particular day?

The driver beeped his horn
at me, adding to my embarrassment.
Where did this instinct come from?

It couldn’t have come from
my mother’s side – no one
in her family died willingly.

I didn’t know many of my
father’s relatives to say it
came from there. I hoped I’d

never see it again in my lifetime.



***

My Superego Wouldn’t Come Off

On the hike she removed
her superego as if it was
as easy as a knapsack

to take off, and tried
to make love to me
on the trail. I resisted,

imagining an elderly couple
stumbling upon us in their
search for rare birds, only

to find the most common
examples of genitalia meshing
together. My superego was glued on,

impossible to remove.



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