firelight flickered. you were laid on a table with one leg raised. the man with the mask of a bird rummaged inside you. he was looking in you like a suitcase. i had been in the cell all winter alone. turning you on your front, you had been split up the back by an axe. men in white coats stood around you. they had instruments in their hands with which to handle coals. they flipped them over. you had your face to the wall and were fastened to iron rings. the man with the beak of a bird tore the lining. hands had come through the wall and held me. your arms were round the neck of the man with the mask like a swan.