My therapist says “you should examine your new work
and compare it to your old work
and see how they differ.
There may be themes that you explore
now
that you didn’t explore then.
There might be something fascinating
for you to discover.”

I look at my therapist.
“You have been taking money
from my Flexible Spending Account
because you have the numbers
to withdraw what I owe you.
You’ve withdrawn like twice
what you should have.

“What the fuck, man!
We’ve got a relationship built on trust here
and I’m on insurance
so the amounts you’re taking isn’t that much.
Why are you lifting from my account?
There’ve got to be better targets
bigger suckers than me
on your client list.
Do you do this to everyone?

“I didn’t want to bring this up
because I think it’ll shatter the relationship that exists. I can swallow the losses,
I think,
more than the loss of the relationship.
But how can you just sit there
like that
like nothing’s going on?”

“That’s a good idea,”
I say,
rather than any of the thoughts before.
“I should examine my work.
Maybe there have been changes afoot.”