Your picture

This morning I took apart an ikon of sorts; I am using the frame for your picture. The frame is a too big, too thin, but the color—dark, brickish—plays well with the colors in the photo. It’s the one that I really like, that your friend took of you looking out at the busy Cambodian street, with the people and tuktuks and mopeds passing below blurring together in the shallow depth of field. Your hair is still facing the road, but your eyes look right at the camera; she must have taken it in that splitsecond between when she called your name and you saw the camera and realized what was happening.

I got the idea last night. I had been meaning to get a frame for a while, putting on the last three shopping lists I made, but I don’t really know where to look for frames, nor do I have much extra money, nor am I frequently in the city where one might acquire such an item [excuses]. As I was lying facedown on the floor resting after too few pushups I noticed/remembered that the stack of old things the previous tenant left in the house contained some framed images. Cleaning last year I had carefully pyramided them and put them under the bed, where they have been gathering dust and moisture since.

The frame used to have a homemade collage: images of Christ, a picture of a cross, an illustration of the virgin, a short poem - Confía en El. A piece of yellow notepaper served as matting, and an inspirational note “Díos Te Bendigo” written in a loopy hand filled the space. Time and moisture caused some of the collage pieces to tear and stick a bit; I’ll have to scrape off the fragment of fringe of radiant light still clinging to the pane. There is also considerable cobwebbing at the corners. If I can find a piece of black paper I will use it as a mat, but the plain white cardboard backing will probably suffice.

Where should I hang it?