Not Bootless
Not Bootless
She wished the time lost
but it kept finding her
as if she were time’s shoe
and you,
time’s body,
and she so longed
for your proximity
that she let time walk her
day in, nights out
even when you
were no longer about,
as if you still might heal her
from afar.
So, paced
by your re-membered
face,
trod
by the weight of waiting, time’s toe tapping
her spine, she who shod time
prayed for it to be waylaid,
as if a foot and not a shoe
might be mislaid,
as if a shoe might just walk away
on its own two feet,
as if its sole might meet,
on some lamp- or moon-lit street, not its shadow, but
its shine.
*******************
Drafty sort of poem for a wonderful prompt on With Real Toads to riff off of poems written by students from Ladysmith High School in Ladysmith, South Africa, for a project of 300 poems in 30 days. (The students blog is called somewhere I have never traveled.) Mine was inspired by a poem by Verusha Pillay, Grade 10 (a micro poem called “Time Stops”–in which she used the line “He stood wanting the time lost.”
The drawing is mine. All rights reserved (and, of course, to poem.)
Explore posts in the same categories: poetryTags: http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com, I just can't love you 'cause your feets too big poem, Ladysmith High School poetry blog, manicddaily, Not bootless, She was time's shoe poem, somewhere I have never traveled blog
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ManicDDaily 
September 25, 2015 at 12:09 am
This gave me goose flesh, Karin. Who among us has not wished that time would get lost and leave us in the present moment?
I will reread your poem later so I can fully appreciate the wonderful pace and phrasing. Thank you for participating.
September 25, 2015 at 2:32 am
Soul and sole, heal and heel–punny and tap-dancing desire to be near. I can hear the tick tock and tension of time passing.
September 25, 2015 at 5:34 am
You show a very deft touch on those last several lines.
September 25, 2015 at 8:24 am
This has a real stream of consciousness feel to it to me, k. I love the drawing of the shoe with the tongue as clock–it sets the metaphor in that first line to ticking, and the whimsy is just another shade of Nike to adorn us on the way to the end of the race, where all the body parts of memory and wish come together.
September 25, 2015 at 9:00 am
Ha–yes–I was rather tired–thanks for liking the drawing–I was going to recycle something and then just thought–oh, just do something new that actually fits! k.
On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 9:24 AM, ManicDDaily wrote:
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September 25, 2015 at 8:43 am
as if she were time’s shoe
and you,
time’s body………. you fleshed this out wonderfully. So impressive.
September 25, 2015 at 8:59 am
Thanks, Debi. k.
On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 9:44 AM, ManicDDaily wrote:
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September 25, 2015 at 12:11 pm
I particularly love that “re-membered face.” I longs to belong, once again.
September 25, 2015 at 12:15 pm
I love how you use the time’s shoe walking.. why we spend the time waiting for that moment when we want it instantly to stop… I feel I need a time¨s stopwatch.
September 25, 2015 at 1:14 pm
That is for sure. Thanks, Bjorn. k.
On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 1:15 PM, ManicDDaily wrote:
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September 25, 2015 at 1:13 pm
There is a beautiful rhythm in this that feels wonderful with the idea walking and time in this poem.
September 25, 2015 at 6:39 pm
A beauteous metaphor, with a killer closing; lots of double meanings & fresh imagery; really enjoyed the trodding of time, the healing of soles.
September 26, 2015 at 12:06 am
Lots of cool phrases in this poem “she let time walk her
day in, nights out” and the idea she “shod time”.
September 26, 2015 at 2:08 pm
Marvellous ideas here about time and how we relate to it. Thanks, I really enjoyed the poem.
Greetings from London.
September 26, 2015 at 9:34 pm
We are so driven by time. Time is never enough, and what we have we fill. Its an interesting turn to be its shoe and it filling us, but even then we can not control it, though we have it surrounded. If only we could walk off without it.
September 27, 2015 at 2:06 pm
I love your riff on the poem, love “as if she were time’s shoe” and, especially, “not its shadow, but its shine.” Wonderful!
October 7, 2015 at 1:09 am
I also read this line: as if you still might heal her
as “you still might heel her”
🙂
~
October 7, 2015 at 6:50 am
Yes! Thank you so much, Michael, for taking the time to read and comment. I know you are super busy. Hope all is well. K.
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