shoes
these shoes have kept my feet safe
they have been faithful
through rain and shine
i have walked and ran
without trouble
these shoes have stepped
on foreign soil. they have
become international.
they have taken me where i
wanted to go. from China
to the Tibetan grasslands.
from learning to dance with
orphans to dancing in circles
with kind strangers who gave
us something to eat.
these shoes have stepped in puddles,
in waste, on soil, on stone.
these shoes have been faithful.
i like to believe that these shoes still
have hints of those memories in the
soil, debris, feces that linger on the
bottom. i like to believe that at
times i'm in two places at once.
i think about where these shoes
have been and where they are now.
i like to think that they connect me
to where i was, to the people i've
touched. i hope they think of these
shoes when they think of me
because i like to think that they
are a part of me.
an extension, an ambassador overseas.
