For so long, I’ve held you here

next to my heart, our bodies filling

the empty and soft spaces. Your mouth

like cushions and your lips a delicate

cage with a singing bird inside. But

now, you must forget what you’ve

learned, and balance your tongue,

the way a bird sits in her nest alone.

Remember that certain places can

only be warmed by those small

enough to reach, and that was you.

Julie Ramon is an English instructor, specializing in English as a second language, at Pittsburg State University in Kansas. She also teaches academic writing at Crowder College in Missouri. She graduated with an M.F.A from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. Among writing, her interests include baking, sewing, traveling, and garage sales. She lives in Joplin, Missouri with her husband, son and daughter.