Lady Liberty can be seen for free. I've done it myself. You get on this boat from the ferry
terminal, which is a big white room full of tourists and with clear glass walls to let the light in. It
gets a bit crowded but it's a big ferry, and when it comes the crowd parts gently and scatters to
the upper decks of the thing. From the pier she's a smidgen, but grows tantalisingly, using up our
excitable rolls of film. I am startled to see she is green and not white as I’d imagined.

Copper oxidises, my dad said. Besides, I'd probably mixed her up
with Venus de Milo.

*

Later that night, during Beauty and the Beast
I caught my dad weeping with emotion
but wiping his small eyes surreptitiously. I thought,
That's a lot of human hair to collect for a fursuit.
When we got back, we opened the Styrofoam packets
to heat up our roast duck. There was a third box;
I nudged my thumb against its lid, and it sprung:
Nestling in a gelatinous heap were forty chicken claws,
each glistening with its own inner light.
I gasped. "This really is a marvellous city."
He grunted and produced two small packets
of Starbucks milk he had filched.