Deleted Sounds

Your lips
were ringed with blue,
parted--
a lingering O.

Icicles clung
to the chasms in your irises,
one last memory
frozen
and fading
into silence.

When they cracked open
your chest,
they found words
cluttering
the veins
around your heart,
a blockage
you were too shy
to tear down.

Nouns
and adjectives
and fillers
fell
--
an avalanche
of deleted sounds
--
from the spaces
between your ribs.

You're cold
and empty,
now
--
unwritten poetry,
voiceless
in glass bottles.