you were eleven
pounds of limbs when
i scooped you into my arms
beneath the flickering
yellow lights that reflected
off urine-stained linoleum.
i thought i was rescuing you. 

that night as you walked
into the apartment
for the first time, i wasn’t
thinking about paris or
the lust in my veins
(the lust pumping out of
my heart). you cried,
scurrying into a corner
when i accidentally stepped
on your paw. i feared you
wouldn’t let me near you again.
you were so slow to let
the hair on your back go
down. 

the days are getting longer,
the skies bluer, and i am
dreaming of paris
again. you follow me
to the bathroom, waiting
patiently outside the door.
you follow me throughout
the house. wherever i am,
your eyes are there. brown 
and gold nebulas. 

we fall asleep
and i feel your heartbeat against
my feet. i want to squeeze you
so hard sometimes. 
twenty five pounds, 
you are an anchor following
me around. i can hear
london calling me now.

where do i go 
to escape your eyes, 
little lamb?
what have i done, falling
in love long before
i have seen the world; 
making home in twenty five
pounds of limbs and
pawprints in the snow?

will your eyes follow me
to london and paris? to cobblestone
cities and languages 
i have yet to learn? 

your small heart an anchor
at my feet, mine is filled 
with a lust to see every inch
of the Earth’s skin.

little lamb // a.s.m