I can hear you screaming beneath the frequencies
somewhere dark and deep
where the sea is stopped by hard rock
where the whales go to decompose
I gnarl my teeth and fight my way down to you
tethered to the shallow waters, I gnaw off my feet
and sink with such effort
I am too tired to breathe
but I can hear you, darling, believe me
no matter how out of phase you might be
You ring and resonate and echo
my limbs are compacting
under the weight of the waves
as your signal turns to static
through the white noise
I lose you
again
and wake up soiled in the sand.
I walked back to the room
where they painted your faded lips
a bright and shimmering pink
and pulled your skin back over your skull
I packed all of their condolences away
in a lavender hat box and headed back
to the life I should have lived
when you still held marrow in your bones
And darling, I’ll try to forget
how I didn’t answer the phone.