diff --git a/src/node/collection.rs b/src/node/collection.rs
index 4d26461..b4d935e 100644
--- a/src/node/collection.rs
+++ b/src/node/collection.rs
@@ -130,27 +130,20 @@ impl NodeCollection {
     Ok(node)
   }
 
-  pub fn pointer<'a>(&'a self, pointer: &str) -> Option<&'a NodeCollection> {
-    if pointer == "" {
+  pub fn pointer<'a>(&'a self, pointer: &[&str]) -> Option<&'a NodeCollection> {
+    if pointer.is_empty() {
       return Some(self);
     }
-    if !pointer.starts_with('/') {
-      return None;
-    }
-    let tokens = pointer
-      .split('/')
-      .skip(1)
-      .map(|x| x.replace("~1", "/").replace("~0", "~"));
     let mut target = self;
 
-    for token in tokens {
-      let target_opt = if let Some(index) = parse_index(&token) {
+    for token in pointer {
+      let target_opt = if let Some(index) = parse_index(token) {
         eprintln!("index: {}", index);
         target.children().get(index)
       } else {
         eprintln!("token: {:?}", token);
         target.children().iter().find(|ref child| {
-          child.base().key().ok().and_then(|x| x).expect("key not parseable") == token
+          child.base().key().ok().and_then(|x| x).expect("key not parseable") == *token
         })
       };
 
diff --git a/src/node/mod.rs b/src/node/mod.rs
index 10708fb..39f2726 100644
--- a/src/node/mod.rs
+++ b/src/node/mod.rs
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ impl Node {
     None
   }
 
-  pub fn pointer(&self, pointer: &[&str]) -> Option<&Node> {
+  pub fn pointer<'a>(&'a self, pointer: &[&str]) -> Option<&'a Node> {
     if pointer.is_empty() {
       return Some(self);
     }
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ impl Node {
         None => return None,
       };
 
-      let target_opt = if let Some(index) = parse_index(&token) {
+      let target_opt = if let Some(index) = parse_index(token) {
         eprintln!("index: {}", index);
         children.get(index)
       } else {