We sat up late

Counting the night out into studs

And splinters

I said I could count to 300

Because it was the biggest number I could think of

You never beleived me

Because, at six, you knew that

My three-year-old body was not old enough to hold

All those digits

You made shadow puppets

On the walls

And I cowered from the wolves of your fingers

And their jaws and their vices

Afraid that they'd crawl through me

Leaving maggot holes

All those summer nights now see to merge

Like time was young enough

And fractional enough

Not to follow the rules

And I tented under my duvet cover

And believed that

To sit up late

Was to break the law