"Miles To Go Before I Sleep..." *

"Miles To Go Before I Sleep..."  *

Within our homes,

within our hearts - lives...

we keep a place for footwear.

Shoes - pride-full, leathers soft and glow-warm

  life-aged, time - worn
  buffed to glisten
  chafed with the touch of existence

  soles marred as our souls are borne.

Sandals - to fit the work or talk

  cushions to bear the effort of our walk
  gnarled by stones, pavement, burdens, tomes.

Slippers - for being home

  special softnesses for the moments when
  we pause in our living, our being whom we must.

and then the boots - for some they are work boots
for some - Combat Boots

for some they are all the same words

Combat - work - helping - living - dying ...being.

Walking in our shoes

we are fishers-of-men
and children of the lesser God
whose words we wish we kept

...within.

Chris

 

*  The title of this is the last line from Robert Frost's "Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening" .

 

 

Author's Note

feel free

Reviews

[lee von cleef]

my wife says " walk a mile in my shoes then keep on walking I've got more shoes" and"I'd like to help you out ,Now which way did you come in?"So being a newbee at this I am going to keep my words trapped and trussed up in my head.The Fox is loose...

[Chris]

I'm glad you paused... but in the author's notes I did say "feel free" and mean it. don't be trussed up and in knots UNLESS its a personal need.

[SpitfireGrrrl]

This may sound silly - but my Gramps used to tell me when I was little that if I looked carefully, I could tell where a person had been by the shoes on his feet. You have captured that. Especially love the end!

[Winslow Des Totes]

This is exciting in it's ability to express with such fervent and yet simple language. Utterly brilliant! :)

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

We all have different layers to our personality... some more predominant then others. Excellent metaphors.

[Chris]

different and yet similiar...

[Patrick]

there's much in this to admire, to enjoy. It got me thinking about tired feet or what shoes say about people...so anything that gets this mind of mine ticking is more than good.

[Scytheriax]

I liked the poem. The descriptions of different shoe styles was interesting.
Though, honestly, I don't see how the title relates to the poem at all.

[Chris]

Some choose Titles by whim... For this one however, each of us do a lot of walking of our "paths" - it isn't the footwear we use... it's how we walk our talk and when.

[Scytheriax]

Hm.
I just feel like it could be tweaked a bit to actually represent the poem.

[Chris]

I am glad you stopped by and left your thoughts... hope you return.

[Chris]

Will think on your thought... actually am thinking on it as I typed...

[Ruth]

Chris, one word - everything!!

Shall catch my breathe now lol

Never stop being you xoxo

[Chris]

Poppy, Nice avatar! Hope all is ok in your areae of the world.

[Ruth]

All is ok love, thank you :) How you doing love, missed reading you xoxo

[WindSong]

Beautiful poem! I enjoyed the read! Frost would be proud!

[Wendy Seames Garner]

I can't stand to go barefoot - I need some cushion between me and the earth. It's always sandals in the summertime, but when winter hits, I switch to tennis shoes - I have boots, but don't like to wear them. No high heels for me - I'm too smart for that kind of punishment. I wonder what that says about me? I like to be free, but not too full of abandonment?

[Tate Morgan]

Very nice a poem with a meaning and story all its own beautiful rhyme