Best Footwear Poems
Acme sold sneakers
not much of a selection
when I was a child
Hogan's
Brogans
(For Brian Strand's Contest)
Booties on tiny feet
Skipping in new white tennies
Wobbling in first high heels
Gliding in wedding slippers
Chasing kids in sensible flats
Arthritic fingers and velcro straps
... No shoes needed in the after- life
The specially made fine footwear
That decreed burdens of feet bear:
The long walks that leave feet blistered
And owner's once calm look, flustered;
The endless climbs of hills gravel
And paths one is sure aren't level...
Man's shoes are nicely leathery
But don't claim they aren't rubbery,
The former often expensive;
After purchase one's mood pensive...
Shoes there are we rate above robe:
Rock Musicians' for who wish to probe.
We can guess who's poor from one's shoes;
I might mistake make after booze.
We all know it: occur in pairs,
If not in pairs wearer for stares!
For all their worth not worn in bed
Save by Lying - In - State Dead.
Footwear and a mendicant
After going to several shoe shops, I found shoes that fitted me
happy, I walked along and saw a woman sitting on the pavement
begging, she looked old for her age severely marked by poverty.
I stopped and looked for change; I didn’t have any, the woman
waited, what to do now?
I could not walk past, like not noticed this wretched soul
I gave her a note of ten euros and cursed myself, but it triggered
a memory from my childhood.
Mother had gone into a shop she had stamps to buy woollen socks
nylon socks were for the rich; a lady walked past, saw my holed
tennis shoes my brother had outgrown.
She went into a shoe shop, came out with a pair of black shoes
gave them to me, they fitted perfectly; I couldn’t wait
showing them to the children on our road.
Mother came out in her hands had the woolly socks,
I showed mother my shiny shoes; take them off, she said and
put the tennis shoes on the new shoes are for Sundays only.
When it's show time
High heels
Show steals
When you wanna become fit
Seeker's
Sneakers
When you're inspired by the driver
Chauffer's
Loafers
When you're in that hippie phase
Hip hop's
Flip flops
When you don't wanna play
No jumps
With pumps
When you feel lazy
Let's don
Slip-on
When everyone is impressed
Black boots
Two hoots!
15th November 2022
For Mark Toney's "2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 21" contest