Old Shoes--

Sometimes I see my life

As a pile of old shoes

In the bottom of my closet

Never worn anymore—forgotten

The running shoes—trashed by miles of pavement

The dress shoes—worn at operas, concerts and theater

Remembered only by ticket stubs in journals no longer read

And every day work shoes scraped bare and exhausted

All their laces frayed by too much too much

I gather them up in a trash bag

And send them off to the landfill

Their last journey a ride in the dumpster

To a monstrous Waste Management dump truck

I wave “good-by” so grateful for my new black loafers