but i think i found you anyway

i caught you smiling at me

when i said something not particularly funny

you smile wide and long and i find myself

counting your teeth (twenty eight)

when you talk with your hands

my fingers fan out at my sides

and i hope you might brush them this time

you stand close to me

and i can feel your breathing

flutters like a moth

thin and light

your father has a twitch and a cane

and bright white shoes

your mother's a replacement

and your sister is adopted

i ask questions but you don't talk about yourself

you ask me how old i am

i say i'm sure i told you already

i say guess and you just smile again

and i just count again

one, two, three, four, five