Greenhouse Poem by Ted L Glines

Greenhouse
by Ted L Glines

I'm into “Genuine Feelings, ”
he states the rule of his game,
and his listeners are ready to answer,
responding to laud his name
as his “Genuine Feelings” flow
for a minute or an hour,
they are awed and gladly responding
like loving a greenhouse flower,
he receives their adulation
with an humble little smile,
while in the greenhouse of his heart
his ego has grown a mile,
the game gives him scads of stroking
without risking an intimate thing,
and he basks in the sunlight of himself
as his greenhouse birdies sing.


This poem was developed from an actual game published in “Games People Play” by Eric Berne. M.D., copyright 1964. Dr. Eric Berne, as the originator of transactional analysis, attained recognition for developing one of the most innovative approaches to modern psychotherapy. His work remains, all these decades later, a classic in the field of clinical psychoanalysis. “Therapy should be like a poker game. In other words, the result is what counts.... You either win or you lose.... You've got to know what's happening in each hand.... A lot of the game depends on getting to know the other guys and what they are doing. So maybe what I'm saying is that big words are hiding the reality of what's going on between people.” (~Eric Berne) Even though the above poem is strictly meant to entertain you, I'll bet that you know someone who actively plays this game. Maybe that someone is you.