I have stolen your shoes.
I took them while you were in the shower
when you thought me busy.
I wanted to bring them home and try them on,
walk around and see what it is like to be you
see the world from your shoes.
You looked for them after, but
you didn’t have much time so you
ran off in another pair.
I took home your shoes.
Eager to try them on
ready to share in your success
the secret way you do things.
I took off my own and threw them to the side,
my everyday dusty ones, the usual
what use were they
next to the shining sparkle of what belongs to you?
They didn’t fit, the shoes I had stolen from you
my feet wouldn’t go in and
the shoes could give me no perspective
on you.
So I put your shoes in my closet
and there they are now
I meant to take them back at first
and cunningly place them somewhere you would think you had left them.
I forgot, of course
told myself I wouldn’t forget again-
I did.
I got used to seeing them there
adding shine to my dusty pile of shoes
I would think of them sometimes.
It was comforting to see them there
every time I hunted for a couple to wear.
they are dependable
shoes do not get up and
leave.
They are always there-
until someone takes them
and forces them to leave.
I wonder sometimes
if they miss you,
you and your closet of sparkly things
or do they enjoy being different
the only shine in a dull world?
I talk to them sometimes
as if they were you, just
they never talk back
your shoes always understand.
I have named them
the bold one on the left for you
the tacit on the right for me.
They sit there, in my closet where I have put them
The Stolen Shoes.
Do you ever remember them?
Do you look for them sometimes,
thinking you missed them when you checked before?
Or have you moved on
from the frightened kidnapped shoes
who served you so well?
Perhaps you have already gone into the shop
and danced your feet into a different pair
just as shiny, just as sparkling.
Another pair my feet cannot fit.
Another pair someone will take from you
so they can be reminded of you
every day when they are searching
for the shoes they do not know you have stolen from them.
Comments
1 - 14 of 14
-
Very smart and simple, but has depth when you read it again. A very good, solid poem.
Aah! Reading it makes me happy. It's amazing. The end is a wonderful.
-
-
Thanks for the read!
-C
-
-
Excellent
I love this poem. I gather it's about trying to be someone you're not, or can't be. You try but it doesn't work out. You wonder if that person knows what you're trying to do -- copy them -- whatever. But it doesn't matter. They go on with their life and you wish you had theirs. Good write. Excellent idea for a poem!
Birdie
language: 5, rhythm: 3, subject: 5, tone: 4, form: 3.
-
-
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it
-
-
Wonderful
The idea of this poem, the voice, the word selection - all of it is wonderful. My favorite lines are:
"I wonder sometimes
if they miss you,
you and your closet of sparkly things
or do they enjoy being different
the only shine in a dull world?"
It makes me wonder if we all fit into one of those two categories. And it makes me question which one I want to be: one of many sparkly things or the only shine in a dull world? Hmmmm. That question will stay with me.
-
-
Thank you! It is an interesting question: to be different and admired, or to belong? Hmm. I wasn't really thinking about that as compared to me so much. Your making me think now.
Thanks for the read!
-Colin
-
-
I really like the idea of walking in another person's shoes, and esspecially the lines:
They didn’t fit, the shoes I had stolen from you
my feet wouldn’t go in and
the shoes could give me no perspective
on you.
really good poem!
language: 4, rhythm: 5, subject: 5, tone: 5, form: 4.
-
-
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.
-Colin
-
-
I love this. Wonderful, wonderful idea.
-
-
Thanks Hawk!
-
-
I like it. It's interesting and original. I like how the shoes doesn't fit, and how the shoes are like a symbol for something else. Nice :-)
xx
H -
-
Thanks!
-
-
This is interesting, Colin. I like the idea but some of the lines are a little all over the place, you might want to break some up. I really like the Stolen Shoe thing though.
-S
-
-
Thanks Mar! Good idea about breaking it up.
Cheers,
-Colin
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 14 of 14
