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For men--
Shoes are shoes are shoes
(makes sense our feet are shod)
Any particular pair we choose
is meant to fit the job:
Florsheims for the office,
Nikes for the street,
Muck boots for the outdoors,
Birkenstocks for the beach.
The shoes we choose we wear
until they’re worn to death;
Then we buy another pair
and chuck the old ones in the trash.
For women--
Shoes are more than that
(when shod their feet make sense)
Whether high or low, wedged or flat,
Shoes promise transcendence:
Manolo Blahnik’s for romance,
Jimmy Choo’s for success,
Badgley Mischka’s for the party,
perfect to match the dress.
The shoes they choose they wear
to make a bit of magic;
Cinderella needed just one pair
to make her life less tragic.
© by Mike Orlock.
Used with the author’s permission.
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Mike Orlock is a retired high school English and American History teacher who splits time between the Chicago suburbs and a vacation home in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He has been married 37 years to his high school sweetheart and inspiration, Liz. His short stories, poems, and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications such as Reporter-Progress newspapers, The Peninsula Pulse, VerseWisconsin, TriQuarterly, and the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets annual calendar.
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mpcamb:
Liked the rhyme at the end especially.
Posted 04/13/2013 12:15 PM
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lincolnhartford:
Takes a man to capture the wonder of shoes and women, someone who doesn't know the language
even, a foreign man, who can without judgment
see the closet floor, covered with layers of women's shoes, some like the other, just a shade different in color, and write a poem of tribute.
Posted 04/09/2013 05:28 PM
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Glen Sorestad:
Devilishly clever, Mike. A very good read!
Posted 04/09/2013 09:54 AM
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mimi:
fun poem, Mike--and pretty much true!
Posted 04/09/2013 08:11 AM
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Ralph Murre:
Nice work, and nice to (occasionally) see a live poet who dares to rhyme at the end of the line. Probably hard to to get something to fit those iambic feet, though.
Posted 04/09/2013 07:37 AM
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vscholtz:
Once I wore the girlie shoes
trod all over town.
Danced the Polka Friday nights
really got around.
Bunions, hammer toes have sent
me a mincing stride.
My feet are old; my toes are bent
Shoes wide, deep and tied.
Posted 04/09/2013 07:26 AM
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MaryLeeHahn:
Alas, I didn't get the female shoe gene. Fun poem, though!!
Posted 04/09/2013 04:28 AM
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