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Sigmund Freud Slept Here
Paul Willis

So says the bronze plaque
on the Corso Cavour.
But really? He just slept?

Freud being Freud, we
would expect something more.
An instance of incest, perhaps,

or some athletic fantasy
of the sexual imagination.
But even Freud needed to sleep.

Sweet dreams, Sigmund Freud.

—
Paul Willis has published seven poetry collections, the most recent of which is Somewhere to Follow (Slant Books, 2021). Forthcoming this spring from White Violet Press is Losing Streak. Individual poems have appeared in Poetry, Ascent, Christian Century, and the Best American Poetry series. He lives with his wife, Sharon, near the old mission in Santa Barbara, California.

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