Richard Tuch, dean of training at the New Center for Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles, has written a reflective poem about the inner workings of marriage. He brings a mature, appealing humor to his subject. This is the opening poem in a soon-to-be released book entitled, The Stories We Tell Ourselves, by J. Mark Thompson and Richard Tuch, Contributors: Lawrence Josephs. The book is scheduled for release this September by Routledge.
Tuch is also a training and supervising analyst at the New Center for Psychoanalysis, LA, and the Psychoanalytic Center of California, and clinical professor of psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA.
All marriages are challengingBut only some prove troublingWhat troubles a couple variesSome say they got a raw dealThat marriage itself, or their particular mateDidn't pan out as plannedPlain and simpleSome complain they'd been gyppedThat marriage promised much and delivered way too littleIt was to have made a world of differenceWhich it did, but not in the way one hopedRather than bringing the best out in one anotherIt somehow did the oppositeMuch to the chagrin of eachWithout either quite knowing who or what to blameFor love's demiseMarriage is meant to bring a couple closerTo make each feel both loving and lovedIt offers a chance to know and be knownTo feel touched by another and to feel our affect on that otherSuch that each makes a difference in the other's lifeIdeally for the positiveIf not alwaysMarriage is meant to create a reassuring bondThat feels safeSaving us from feeling isolated and aloneLost in our singularityWithout the added definitionThat comes from such warm and enveloping words asWe, us, ourMarriage delivers much, but it also demands muchThat much it can promise
Sheri Butler Hunt, M.D., is an adult training and consulting analyst and a child supervising analyst in the child division at the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. A published poet and member of TAP‘s editorial board, she welcomes readers’ comments, suggestions, and poetry submissions at .