Chelsea Rathburn

Our Therapist Says

Our therapist says no filing for divorce,
no love affairs, no joining the insane,
no suicides or fatal use of force

for at least three months, until we find the source
of this mess. So far, we’ve learned we are in pain.
Our therapist says no filing for divorce

and gives us homework: try to reinforce
the positive, try not to complain.
No suicides or fatal use of force

leaves wiggle room: we scream until we’re hoarse
and privately wonder if this is all in vain. 
Our therapist says no filing for divorce,

and surely she knows what’s best. Of course
that means pretending we don’t entertain
thoughts of suicide or – better! – use of force,

though he’ll admit resentment, I remorse.
“You’re doing well – marriage is hard to maintain,”
our therapist says. “No filing for divorce.
No suicides. No fatal use of force.”

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Chelsea Rathburn’s first full-length collection of poetry, The Shifting Line, received the 2005 Richard Wilbur Award and was published by the University of Evansville Press. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Atlantic Monthly, The Hudson Review, The New Criterion, the Cincinnati Review, and River Styx. A marketing copywriter by trade, she lives in Decatur, Georgia.