Today I say goodbye to my flipflops
Mom is taking me shopping for school shoes
Our annual pilgrimage
To enclose my toes
In shoes that are safe for
Running, climbing stairs, walking through
Wet hallways on rainy days.
My school has rules about shoes:
No open toes,
They must be black, brown or white
Forget the ones with skates on the bottom
That mysteriously disappear
When the teacher is looking
Time with mom on the last week of summer
How bittersweet
Like new school shoes
Delightful to look at knowing that they will leave blisters on my heels
Saying goodbye to the freedom of summer.
Ugly Shoes
My flat feet beg
For ugly shoes
Not for fashion shown
On the news
They want to carry
My considerable weight
Enabling me to walk
With a steady gait
You’ll never see me wearing
High heels
I simply don’t like the way
That they feel
Those fancy shoes that they make in Rome
Won’t find a way to my closet or home
So give me a pair of oxfords or flats,
Sneakers or loafers but nothing with spats
There are places to go that I want to see
I’m counting on ugly shoes to carry me.
Previously published in Altadena Poetry Review 2018
Mismatched Shoes
As a toddler my daughter wore mismatched shoes
One red, the other pink
She loved them both
So why play favorites?
It was a decision I chose not to fight
Her first taste of creativity
Of independent decision making
I credit mismatched shoes for her self-confidence
Love of color
Courage to be take risks
To express herself freely
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