734900
7
ABANDONED SNEAKERS
As we walked watchfully along the way,
A pair of sneakers lay silently in the street;
Abandoned by flight or neglect. The soles
Have lost their occupant: gone to who knows where.
We cannot know the life they once shared;
For there are no footprints in the asphalt to trace
The path of their beginning nor the lonely journey’s end;
Neither is there a catalogue of exciting events experienced
We will never know the lord and master
From whom they have been emancipated or abandoned
To be left here only with the odor of memories:
An acquired anti-aromatic epitaph.
Swiftly strolling silently onward, we pondered
The sneakers’ seduced soul---rather than their sole.
One day, this too, will be the fate of our shoes:
Emancipated and abandoned---left only with
An acquired anti-aromatic odor of epitaph memories.
Would it be any difference if they were seen hanging
From a wire strung over the streets…?
