Frozen tears cold as ice
clogging up ducts
too hard to flow
in warm rivulets
down alabaster cheeks
lightening grief
carefully padlocked
in iron chests
away from eyes
that probe and seek.

Frozen tears cold as ice
trapped powerless
struggling to flee
in tiny gasps
of shallow breath
through tinier gaps
cracks and fissures
in a door tightly shut
to ease a heart
bowed down with weight.

– Shail Mohan (Jan 2008)