Toys with me, my seven-year-old son.
Must pee when I\u2019m five reveries in
on my weekend shower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if locked, marshals the magic
key\u2014speared paper clip\u2014
unlocks his glee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t admit
the red nose of the Operation patient,
the punchline of a jack-in-the-box,
the errant ringtone\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
all steal me, so that when he pulls
that curtain on a lark,
I vaporize\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
become Marion Crane,
and he, my Norman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael Alc\u00e9e\u2019s<\/strong> work has appeared in San Antonio Review<\/em>, Psychoanalytic Perspectives<\/em>, and Tarry<\/em> and is forthcoming in Quarter Press<\/em> and The Branches<\/em>. In addition to being a poet, he is a psychologist and author of Therapeutic Improvisation <\/em>(Norton, 2022) and The Upside of OCD <\/em>(Rowman & Littlefield, 2024).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Toys with me, my seven-year-old son.Must pee when I\u2019m five reveries inon my weekend shower. Even if locked, marshals the magickey\u2014speared paper clip\u2014unlocks his glee. I can\u2019t admitthe red nose of the Operation patient,the punchline of a jack-in-the-box,the errant ringtone\u2014 all steal me, so that when he pullsthat curtain on a lark,I vaporize\u2014 become Marion … <\/p>\n