Laceless Shoes

When I was a kid of maybe six And I put on my favorite kicks I had a problem a kid faces I couldn’t tie my own shoelaces And with four kids, Mom’s precious time Could not all be spent on mine She had to find another way To keep me in my shoes each day And tennis shoes were not allowed In a Catholic school crowd So shoes for school and Sunday best Had to pass Mom’s laceless test A penny loafer wouldn’t fit I’d walk and slip right out of it Elastic laces she couldn’t get And Velcro’s not invented yet She searched and found this shoe with tongue That opened like a spring was sprung And once you slipped your foot inside Unsprung the tongue – you’re good as tied And I didn’t have a handicap When I took off my shoes to nap I just had to flip that flap Slip in my foot – close with a snap I thought my gadget shoes “the bomb” And I never had to bother mom I wonder if they make these still For little boys who lack the skill Who every morning he still faces Fumbling with his long shoe laces Or could a guy like me get rich Reinventing for this niche And saving Mom’s their precious time Like these shoes once did for mine Mdailey 6/20/11 You probably have to be a man of at least 60 years old to remember these shoes. They were black leather with a wide flat tongue that was hinged at the toe like the hood of a 60? XKE ( my dream car as a teen). There was a spring of some sort at that hinge so that when the tongue was lowered, the shoe was tight.