Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy by Tao Lin

Oh, how I wanted to like Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy by Tao Lin. I wanted it to be the hip, acerbic, witty poetry I aspire to write. But it was not to be.

Ray McDaniel reviewed the book last year and talks about it far more intelligently -- and generously -- than I could.

Still, the first poem in the book, "I will learn how to love a person and then I will teach you and then we will know," is promising and, as a result, a bit misleading.

I will learn how to love a person and then I will teach you and then we will know

seen from a great enough distance i cannot be seen
i feel this as an extremely distinct sensation
of feeling like shit; the effect of small children
is that they use declarative sentences and then look at your face
with an expression that says, 'you will never do enough
for the people you love'; i can feel the universe expanding
and it feels like no one is trying hard enough
the effect of this is an extremely shitty sensation
of being the only person alive; i have been alone for a very long time
it will take an extreme person to make me feel less alone
the effect of being alone for a very long time
is that i have been thinking very hard and learning about existence, morality
loneliness, people, society, and love; i am afraid
that i am not learning fast enough; i can feel the universe expanding
and it feels like no one has ever tried hard enough ; when I cried in your room
it was the effect of an extremely distinct sensation that 'i am the only person
alive,' 'i have not learned enough,' and 'i can feel the universe
expanding and making things be further apart
and it feels like a declarative sentence
whose message is that we must try harder'

(Tao Lin, Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy, Melville House, 2008)