Kimonos in the Closet

Taking the Psychological Test

40 Taking the Psychological Test The psychologist asks me to consider the black spot smeared across his paper and tell him what I see. It is, indeed, a strange phenomenon. And I can see why he’s concerned. I, too, would be perplexed if I found something like that lying on my desk. I ask him how it got there. A pervert, perhaps? Or a vandal with no respect for private property? He suggests I simply focus on what it looks like to me. So I tell him it’s one of those muffled explosions that happens in the mind as happiness turns to sadness. I point to its jagged outline. And all that debris scattered about. I show him the glowing core that once was pure joy and ask how he managed to photograph it. He turns the paper around and studies the blotch as if he’s never thought of this, which seems odd since he’s the doctor and I’m the patient and he should know these kinds of things. I notice the doodling on his notepad that looks like two people lost in the throes of love while riding backward on a camel. Though I hesitate to mention the fact. ...