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Patricide
It was by chance that I was teaching at a University Hospital in China,
where Chen was being held for killing his father with a knife
meant to fillet the carp languishing in the kitchen sink.
I was immediately drawn into the tragic drama of an oedipal complex.
I met Chen on the day he was interviewed by the Director.
He was thin, 16 years old,
seated erect on a green metal chair.
The room was crowded with men in white lab coats,
their faces obscured in a nauseating fog of cigarette smoke.
For two hours Chen answered questions thoughtfully, clearly.
I listened to his mythic account—
a rich father, high-ranking official
disgraced by his “stupid” son’s school performance,
a weeping mother unable to protect herself or the boy
from the father’s alcoholic rages, burning shame.
Blink.
Something happens that cannot be undone.
Bio:
Dr. Mae McAuley is clinical psychologist in Los Angeles and a retired professor of psychology at Pepperdine University. A world traveler with her husband, Dr. George McAuley, a noted psychiatrist, her poetry often concerns issues around the subjects of human rights, social justice and poverty in a straightforward narrative that is easily accessible. Her passion equals her talent.
(author retains copyright)
.
Patricide
It was by chance that I was teaching at a University Hospital in China,
where Chen was being held for killing his father with a knife
meant to fillet the carp languishing in the kitchen sink.
I was immediately drawn into the tragic drama of an oedipal complex.
I met Chen on the day he was interviewed by the Director.
He was thin, 16 years old,
seated erect on a green metal chair.
The room was crowded with men in white lab coats,
their faces obscured in a nauseating fog of cigarette smoke.
For two hours Chen answered questions thoughtfully, clearly.
I listened to his mythic account—
a rich father, high-ranking official
disgraced by his “stupid” son’s school performance,
a weeping mother unable to protect herself or the boy
from the father’s alcoholic rages, burning shame.
Blink.
Something happens that cannot be undone.
Bio:
Dr. Mae McAuley is clinical psychologist in Los Angeles and a retired professor of psychology at Pepperdine University. A world traveler with her husband, Dr. George McAuley, a noted psychiatrist, her poetry often concerns issues around the subjects of human rights, social justice and poverty in a straightforward narrative that is easily accessible. Her passion equals her talent.
(author retains copyright)
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