Delia Byrnes
Delia Byrnes is pursuing her bachelor's degree in English at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Her work has appeared in Existere, and forthcoming publications include filling Station, Misunderstandings Magazine, and Tower Poetry.
Pretext
It's too stark outside,
all that pricking light.
Traffic, voices
are the static
of a dusty LP.
Cross-legged on the bed,
I crack the spine hard and
let the pages settle on either side,
a portmanteau of silence.
Then, his voice.
It's a slow shot, gaining pitch.
Teeth clenched to a sturdy wall,
the tone now strained through
twice-thick jawbone.
Still there.
Still there.
The road clanks outside.
Gunfire each time a car drives by.
The light spikes, hits, misses
and tries again.
It's quiet now.
