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Tuesday, January 23, 2024

ON WOMEN AND SHOES


Puss N Boots from Shrek


I know about women and shoes,
but I seem to be missing that gene,
so any poem written by me
on that topic
has to be about not-shoes.

What I wear on my feet:
Crocs, for slipping on easily
to run in and out,
calf-high mud-boots
for heading to the barn
in rainy weather,
a battered pair of running shoes
with clunky laces, that have to be
wide enough for comfort
- rather like a flat-bottomed boat -
which I replace every few years,
give or take, when the soles wear out.

I have a daughter who wears
a fascinating array of footwear,
including combat boots for Kicking Ass,
cool strappy things for dressing up,
anything from platform heels
to fitness shoes, and all that lies between.
She did not get her sense of style
from me.

When we go out, beside her
tall, beautiful elegance,
I feel like the frizzy-haired
Witch Down the Lane,
in my baggy sweatshirt
and scruffy jeans.

Yesterday I met an old hippy
over in Coombs.
Our laughing eyes
recognized each other.
(It must be something about
the Frizzy Hair:) )

He told me
he was in Haight Ashbury
Back in the Day,
that he wore thigh-high
leather boots, with buckles,
in which he promenaded
like Puss 'N Boots himself.

Back in the Day, I wore polyester
and pushed a buggy
with three little kids in it
inside the strait jacket
of a conventional marriage.
I didn't fit,
with my big unwieldy
unconventional spirit,
that kept bumping up against
the edges and confines
I was kept in,
till the madwoman finally
burst out of her prison
and was no longer mad.

In those days, while I pushed my buggy
mile after desperate mile,
I watched, with awe and envy,
the benign, coolly-dressed and
totally FREE-spirited beings
wandering smilingly
up and down Fourth Avenue,
wondering how they learned
to be so free.

I just missed that freedom bus
by fifteen seconds,
pushing my buggy along
a parallel street just one block down.
When I broke free, I remember pushing
my giggling babies in that same buggy,
hippety-hopping down the hill,
all of us laughing,
heading us all
towards a happier life.

I made up for missing the 60's
later, in coffeehouses in the 80's,
and in the Land of 
Aging Hippies in Tofino
in the 90's.
My shoes were never magic,
but they lifted me out of the desert,
over the mountains to my new world
in Clayoquot Sound,
and that was magic enough
for me.

My spirit never tried
to stuff itself back
into that little box
again.

The only magic shoes
that ever spoke to me were Dorothy's,
on that journey she made
away from and back to herself,
where she found she had always
had the power inside her,
her home within,
where she had started out.

This lifetime, my shoes
have walked me through
some of the most beautiful
landscapes in the world.
All I ever needed was a pair
that fit, that can carry me
into the wilderness I love.
A pair I kick off at the door
when I come home tired,
slide back into every time
I'm heading out.

How many more pairs
and pathways are there left me?
There's no knowing, but there's one thing
I know for sure: when music
from those years calls to my spirit,
I can still kick them off
and dance a lick or two
across my empty room.



12 comments:

  1. Wow, Sherry, you covered so much ground in this poem that I don't know where to start.

    I especially like this--
    " This lifetime, my shoes
    have walked me through
    some of the most beautiful
    landscapes in the world.
    All I ever needed was a pair
    that fit, that can carry me
    into the wilderness I love. " And for that you have been SO very lucky. Your shoes, all of them, have taken you on quite a journey.

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  2. Shoes give us an interesting perspective into our lives. I remember having a pair made for me once--the first time I felt I was forging my own path. I might should have written about that. I like your view of magic here "My shoes were never magic,
    but they lifted me out of the desert,
    over the mountains to my new world
    in Clayoquot Sound,
    and that was magic enough
    for me." Me, too!

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  3. I love the many faceted shoe-world of yours Sherry. I could see you here too : "I know for sure: when music
    from those years calls to my spirit,
    I can still kick them off
    and dance a lick or two
    across my empty room."

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  4. So much in this poem that I love - the spirit, the close (dancing a lick or two) but especially the shoes like "a flat bottomed boat" and "I made up for missing the 60's / later, in coffeehouses in the 80's," - this poem is an entire journey!!

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  5. I enjoyed this poem, Sherry, and I too seem to be missing the shoe gene, Give me a pair of crocs, slipper, Doc Martens and I’m happy, and my daughter is just like yours. In the seventies, I mostly went barefoot in the summer and wore boots in the winter.

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  6. I'm all about utility, but my wife does have amazing shoe style!

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  7. Kick off your shoes and dance across the room....I put some music on for you:) ....Rall

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  8. Sherry!!!! This touched my heart. So much of it, from the liberation from a bad marriage and the ensuing lightening of everyone's life (especially the kids), to the comparison of styles, mom vs. kid. Just an ebullient poem, filled with the patented Sherry hippie witchy style! I loved this one. Love, Amy

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  9. I like the kicking off shoes and dancing!

    (Priscilla King, still not making time to encourage any cookies)

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  10. I like how you kick off your shoes and dance at the end of your poem. I hope you find many more dancing days. Suzanne - Wayfaring blog - Wordpress

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  11. Sherry,
    I felt a strong connection to your poetic description about footwear.
    Although I have always been drawn to chic and style with shoes, I have had to learn to park my enthusiasm. These days, safety and comfort dominate my purchases, unfortunately.
    Since falling and damaging my knee several years ago, my more stylish shoes are sitting in their boxes. No longer, fit for purpose.
    I have comfortable house shoes and several reliable pairs for outdoors, depending on the weather.
    A great prompt topic...

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  12. Hi Sherry, I loved reading this poem. Your shoes seem to fit and have taken you on some adventures. I have a lot of shoes but, my favorite are my ankle high moccasins. Trekking through life sole to soul.

    Its a great feeling to kick shoes off and dance barefoot. Dance away my friend.

    Truedessa

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