Mug of Emily

Outside the frame

Poems by Emily Ramirez

By:

Posted: 3/13/09

WATER

Let me skip smooth stones on your still surface.
I want to see the ripples that result when the reflection is rearranged,
Ripped open.
Show me your secrets for just a small second
And I will tell you mine.
Only you can know because
You will guard them like a precious gift.
The only hints you give are your ripples
Or maybe
A splash.
But neither the crocodile nor the snake suspect.

CONFINEMENT

Time frozen forever
Paying tribute to that which is gone.
Reserved in ink and paper
For admirers who pass by.
Framed to be seen the ways that we
Want.
In wood.
In metal.
In black and white.
The happy moments captured.
The rest, carefully omitted.

Set fire to them all.
See that which is outside the frame.

STRETCHED BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Stretched between two worlds
My left leg over there, the past, which I just can't quite leave
Yet.
My right, on the side of the future.

A cavern extending south
Between my legs.
This straddling motion cannot last.
As the rocks free themselves
From the edges of the cliff face they roll into the open mouth of uncertainty
Should I follow them?
Dislodge my locked knees from the rocky shelf supporting me?
I want to fall at high speed, accelerating
Only until I
SMACK
Down hard into a new place.
What lies beneath me?
Maybe curiosity killed the cat
But I would rather be dead than stuck.