“Self-Therapy,” by Fay Dillof (Poetry ’15)

“Self-Therapy,” a poem by 2015 graduate Fay Dillof, was recently featured in Rattle. Read an excerpt below:

Self-Therapy

What is unearned depression? I ask a client who, wishing 
he understood why he’s feeling down, uses the phrase.

Not that he actually wants there to be a reason—
some life-wrecking event—it’s just 

without one, I feel so shallow, he says.
Should I tell him about my friend who, after round three 

of chemo, said I like Sinead O’Connor and Tupac too but not
looking like them? 

Should I ask What’s shallow v. deep?
We’re in my office where a book’s title declares All Parts Are Welcome.

An angry part that spent Saturday in the dark living room, bitching. 
A thin-skinned part, lickety-split at feeling left out.

Read the rest of this poem (and hear Dillof read it) here: https://www.rattle.com/self-therapy-by-fay-dillof/