Shoelaces and Change of Climate

I first noticed a change in Climate,
When my shoes started to outlast their laces,
Which I thought unusual at the time,
As I had come to think of it as an unwritten law,
Probably one of Murphy's,
That shoelaces were never meant to outlast a pair of shoes,
And shoes were built with the shoeshine boy and the shoe mender in mind.

About the time I realized that those rules no longer applied,
I felt the chill in the air,
As a new broom and a new wind were swooping down on us.

But just in case there is time for the change of climate to be reversed,
I take the laces that are now still as good as new,
Out of the shoes, before I consign them to another growing mountain,
That no one is prepared to climb,
And save them in case I come across a pair of shoes,
That will outlast their laces,
And possibly become a link in the chain,
That we can use to pull the world and its climate,
Back on an even keel, 
Especially if someone who appreciates shoes that last,
Sees merit in encouraging a mountain of near new laces, 
By making deals with charities to create the mountain,
Instead of bringing more new ones onto the market, 
And helping speed up a change in climate.

Or alternatively if that does not come about,
My saved shoelaces will make handy ties for the bags of shoes,
I will need to dispose of that are beyond repair.
Either way,
I feel better for having pointed out,
That if we make enough small $1 savings  to the good,
We could give the world it's badly needed,
Trillion-dollar makeover,
So we can all make do with smaller waste bins.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2023



Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 3/21/2023 1:19:00 AM
I love this, David. What a unique way to deliver the environment message! Everybody's singing "LA-La-La!" So scary! Elizabeth
Login to Reply
Smith Avatar
David Smith
Date: 3/21/2023 2:05:00 AM
And crazy too. I instigated a meal recycling scheme for our local church. Made a few thousand and saved a few ton of metal from tip. Could I get last two Mayors to come down and look at what we were doing. No way. I did can recycling when I lions and and got the group to recycle spent puffer aluminum containers. I co-authored a paper on waste management in seventies for a political party. It got shelved. Recycling at source is answer. Economies would boom if businesses could get uncontaminated items. Everyone can do more like toilet training their children so less nappies needed or feeding their pets more scraps instead of store bought stuff. My parents and their parents reused /repurposed. to mostly good effect. We just have to try new ways to convince. Poetry is one. Thanks again for reading. David in NZ
Date: 3/18/2023 12:29:00 PM
wow! this is wonderful, david! i like your ideas and the way you've expressed them in this poem. i also remove my shoelaces before discarding old sneakers, but they just lie around in a drawer and rarely get reused, though i suppose they could be...
Login to Reply
Smith Avatar
David Smith
Date: 3/18/2023 7:10:00 PM
Thank you Ilene for taking to read and comment. I am a great believer in sorting at source and I am on a roll with my poetry at moment. A word or a phrase appears out of nowhere and the rest follows with few if any alterations or rewrites. I wonder if I don't have a ghost writer to help. No doubt all the wonderful poems and poets on the soup are an influence too. Best regards David in NZ
Date: 3/18/2023 2:45:00 AM
Quite a poem which I loved.
Login to Reply
Smith Avatar
David Smith
Date: 3/18/2023 3:35:00 AM
Thanks. Time will tell whether I am just whistling in the dark, but poetry is the one medium that lets me at least whistle where other mediums are not as user friendly tome at least. And I enjoy the challenge in the writing with Hope and Love while still showing passion and encouraging others to look at life in a different way. ps I really do remove the shoelaces and see big gains from small initiatives. Hope you will be around in the soup for a while yet. David in NZ
Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Hide Ad