Brian Czyzyk
Poetry
Brian Czyzyk is a poet from Traverse City, Michigan. His work appears or is forthcoming in Gulf Coast, Passages North, The Offing, Ninth Letter, and POETRY Magazine among others. He holds an MFA from Purdue University and is currently a Creative Writing PhD student at the University of North Texas where he serves as Poetry Editor for American Literary Review.
Rescue Anne
The death mask of an unnamed, drowned woman, referred to as “L’Inconnue de la Seine”
(The Unknown Woman of the Seine), serves as the model for this popular CPR training manikin.
The man I think I love can’t
seem to tear his lips from yours.
I shouldn’t be envious, I know,
he’s trying to pump your latex
full of breath, testing his palm
against the plastic of your chest,
listening for the click that would
jump your waterlogged heart
back to its patter. But I can’t
help it. I want to be where you
are. I’ll be honest, his lips
have never brushed mine, his
fingers never worked the curve
of my ribs like he has yours, and—
I can’t help but imagine myself
splayed, eyes locked behind still
lids, in this campus classroom,
the buzz of fluorescents replacing
my heart’s thrum. Anne, I’m
worried the magic of his hands
might just dredge your soul
from the Seine. I know, I know—
everyone who kisses you tries
to bring you back. But have your
lips ever touched the marble halls
of a mouth like that?
“ This poem emerged from looking up strange facts. Introducing apostrophe and desire helped the poem crystallize. ”
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