Did you ever
wonder about them? About the man who had put them there, and why. I say ‘man’
only because – though unisex in style – they were rather large trainers. We
should always question assumptions: plenty of bigfoot women out there after all.
An instant cast-off,
in favour of pair newly bought? Surely not, as soundly laced and seeming little
worn. The nearby clothes bank maybe a step too far, or full? But any hand-me-down lover would have to brave
both public gaze and the heavy traffic.
Perhaps – in
their dead centre placement, laid precisely parallel to the zebra stripes – an
homage to Magritte? Or McCartney crossing Abbey Road. The invisible drawn to
our attention in the way a thunderclap enhances your hearing, just for a moment.
Did rubber
soles get stuck on the tarmac’s blistering heat? Simple explanations are often
true. Ever since I’ve speculated on how thick-skinned his feet were. Yes, he could
have been wearing socks. Friends do question the detail of my recollection.
Nowadays I
snapshot all abandoned clothing. Mostly single gloves, happened on in winter
months. An odd scarf now and then; just the one hat. Shoes are rare – unless
you look up at trees. Every picture hides a story.
iv. 2019 – i. 2020
Trying to write outside my settled form, but falling down uncomfortably between monologue and prose poem.
ReplyDeleteA true story regardless. As seen in la Rochelle one summer holiday.
I love to wear old shoes. My oldest pair is from 1990. I have a pair of 'air sandals, from before air in sneakers was 'inside the sole. It's on the bottom of the sole, so as I've walked over rocky terrain they've flattened out. However, I'm a sucker for a new pair of shoes, too.
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