FIRST OF ALL

a bandaid and two scratches
not deep enough to penetrate

the skin. But you can tell
there’s nothing fragile

in this picture. Nothing
easily swayed. Nothing

easily relinquished.
And so the thick wrinkled

skirt where a child hung on
for dear life. As if all life

wasn’t dear. As if the toes
peeking from their cages

pushing the bars aside
weren’t first of all.