The Clinical Psychologist Asks Me What It Feels Like

by E. L. McKee

Image credit: Klim Musalimov on Unsplash

Like trying to divine from the wrong deck,

I guess? Like I’m hoping to pull The Hermit but

seeing nothing but the six of spades, over and over

again. Like my peers are turning over Major and Minor

Arcana—instantly putting the pieces together—

whilst I’m sat with my lackluster stack of mismatched

clubs and jacks and wracking my brain like what the

fuck is that supposed to mean? as they stand atop The

Tower and tell me it’s easy. Why can’t you just

get it already?

She looks at me blankly, picks up her pen:

Right. I’ll just put “has difficulty reading

facial expressions”, then.

***

E. L. McKee

E. L. McKee is a poet and writer of short fiction, living in England, UK. They were a recipient of the 2026 Bravado Awards grant from Brave Words Theatre. More of their work can be found via www.elmckee.co.uk or on Instagram at @e.l.mckee