Monday, November 11, 2013

A Valediction, Forbidding Strolling


Let us sing a sad goodbye
To my beloved shoes!
Bought at Brown's in the year four,
In them I loved to cruise
'cross Spanish ramblas, Oxford stones,
And every Brooklyn block,
As secure as a iron safe,
As steady as a clock.



Let us sing a sad goodbye
To my dark chocolate loafers:
An elegy for voice and lyre
And drum and flute and shofars.
How they've borne me, how we rambled!
Oh, the stories we could tell!
How they always felt like heaven
While I wore them all to hell.



Let us sing a sad goodbye
To Danskos, old and proud: 
Their cracking toe box, shaved-down heel,
And leather worn to shroud.
I know that we shall meet again
In that great shoe store in the sky,
And I bless you for your service:
Good friends, good shoes; good-bye.

2 comments:

  1. Ah, Cheryl. Your dearly departed shoes have now joined mine--a lace-up, brown suede, rubber-soled best friend that took me through four years of a rambling college campus, graduate school, first years of teaching, and beyond until my family shamed me into parting with them. In my opinion, they still had a few good years left, but alas, we were declared to separate by a family vote. So, the next Christmas, I wrapped them up and presented them to my father. I myself was unable to break the bond or attend their funeral.

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  2. Enjoyable :) Shoes say so much...

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