Tuesday, April 16, 2024

No Solace at Lost Shoe Lake

 


I looked for solace at Lost Shoe Lake,
vividly picturing that long-ago settler,
desperately slogging the muddy slough -
bitter as his shoe was suctioned
off his foot, and gone,
a catastrophe unlikely
but, alas for him,
too true.

I imagine his chagrin, thoughts
of the rocky miles ahead 
circling his brain like blackflies,
his journey
caught between disbelief
and dread.

No solace for him
for a hundred miles
at least.
No solace for me
as I walked the lonely shore,
without my beloved
grinning
big black beast.

10 comments:

  1. Such sadness, Sherry. Pup is always with you in your poetry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The settler is probably grumbling, never a cobbler around when you need one! Unlike a dog, who is always there when you need him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. there is sadness in this and i can feel your heart. Lovely words

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can hear the grumbles of the man without his shoe, and the faithful splash of a dog who would know how to retrieve it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That would be rough, having to go all those miles missing a shoe. And I see the connection, too--you traveling many miles without your fellow traveler, Pup, to aid the journey. Though I suspect, he is there in many memories you hold dear.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The best of the best when it's about "Pup" .... love this Sherry.

    ReplyDelete
  7. How lovely, Sherry, every image stands out for me. There's sadness and distress at the "lonely shore" that must be walked, but somehow the warm memory of that grin, all the love it conveyed, ever present. Something a lost shoe, however painfully missed, can never give. The contrast is beautifully drawn.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I can feel your lost love in this. Solace is such a perfect word.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lost Shoe Lake - that's a great image.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This poem really sticks to the heart long after it is read Sherry! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for visiting. I appreciate it and will return your visit soon.