&i counted all your fingers
and i counted all your toes
just to make you sure you had not lost any since the time i had seen you last.
you held my claws gingerly, showing me around like i was some mute wild thing
unaware of my own strength and unable to control it.
&we nearly made it: up all those crossed and crooked streets, crumbling stairways, wooden books.
for a couple of hours my mouth opened up,

&i could see.