Brian Wiora
Séance
The gospel man outside my window
has a voice like an airplane hangar, mid-echo.
The kids on the street have voices
that lift themselves like slow balloons.
The streets have different voices
in the morning and at night.
The radio coughs up voices.
I walk around with my fingers in my ears.
I close my throat with my scarf when it snows.
Last night, I was tired of hearing my voice
sit at the table. I said nothing important.
I kissed someone with a voice
that tasted like dust. It was dreadful
after that, when I found the gospel man.
He said I looked nothing like God
and gave me psalms to recite.
I’ve lost my voice. I’ll find it.
I’ll drink to it. I’ll drink until
I hear your voice. I remember it
in the bedroom, where our bed
was dressed with sheets
white with noise. Those nights of covers
and uncovers. Those vows.
And how tomorrow always came
with its inevitable voice, the distant name
of church bells, never ours.
has a voice like an airplane hangar, mid-echo.
The kids on the street have voices
that lift themselves like slow balloons.
The streets have different voices
in the morning and at night.
The radio coughs up voices.
I walk around with my fingers in my ears.
I close my throat with my scarf when it snows.
Last night, I was tired of hearing my voice
sit at the table. I said nothing important.
I kissed someone with a voice
that tasted like dust. It was dreadful
after that, when I found the gospel man.
He said I looked nothing like God
and gave me psalms to recite.
I’ve lost my voice. I’ll find it.
I’ll drink to it. I’ll drink until
I hear your voice. I remember it
in the bedroom, where our bed
was dressed with sheets
white with noise. Those nights of covers
and uncovers. Those vows.
And how tomorrow always came
with its inevitable voice, the distant name
of church bells, never ours.
Biography
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Brian Wiora is an MFA candidate in Poetry at Columbia University, where he serves as the Online Poetry Editor for Columbia Journal. His poems have appeared in Rattle, Gulf Stream Magazine, Alexandria Quarterly, and other places. Besides Poetry, he enjoys listening to classic rock music, performing standup comedy, and traveling.
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