There is a voice inside the vent Trying every sound I make It says my name with one sound missing Then corrects its own mistake One laughs where I would never laugh One drags a phrase until it dies One keeps trying on my silence Like it fits behind its eyes I tell the room That isn't me The room repeats it Differently They say my name wrong But every time it gets closer They borrow pieces of my voice And pass them to each other I keep saying, “That isn't me” Until the words no longer belong They say my name wrong They won't be wrong for long THAT ISN'T MY VOICE That isn't my voice Now one of them breathes when I breathe One waits inside my throat One knows the end of every sentence Before I know what I wrote I start too soon, they start before me I fall behind, they slow Every time I change the pattern They already know where I go I choose a word I never use The cleanest voice says it first Maybe nothing here was stolen Maybe I was being rehearsed They say my name wrong But every time it gets closer They borrow pieces of my voice And pass them to each other I keep saying, “That isn't me” But now the answer comes along They say my name wrong They won't be wrong for long I changed the words It changed them too I held my breath It waited I opened my mouth to answer Something answered first It said my name correctly WE KNOW HOW YOU GO NOW WE KNOW WHERE YOU BEGIN WE KNOW THE BREATH BEFORE THE WORD WE KNOW WHICH VOICE WILL WIN GET OUT OF MY MOUTH They say my name right Every voice a little closer They pass my memories around And wear them for each other I keep saying, “That isn't me” But now my voice sings along They say my name right And mine is the voice that's wrong They say my name right They say my name right I keep saying, “That isn't me” Then who is?
