Sometimes I wish I were a shoe
At least I'd be a pair
At least I'd have a friend to see
And someone's bound to wear
Me and my pair or if not that
Then toss us both away
With all the other pairs of shoes
That might have been forgotten
Sometimes I wish I were a sock
For very much the same
At least I'd have a friend to mock
And then I'd be exchanged
I'd find new matches, some the same
Some entirely new
But at least I wouldn't be alone
With such a melancholic view
I wish I were a grain of rice,
Maybe corn, or maybe grapes
They never seem to be alone
Or without a friendly face
They never seem to stay at home
With nothing on their plates
They never spend the day alone
And everyday just the same
Better still, I wish to be
Some molecule of water
Through thick and thin
They stick together—
And water from the fridge
Must never look at
Water from the tap
And yearn like so—
But I cannot be like water
And I cannot be like rice
Or like corn or like grapes
Or like socks or like shoes—
So I must be like me.
How can it be,
How can it be,
That I have sole
Where shoe does not?
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
I feel this so, Annia. It truly is life's greatest quest to find a community of like minds where you can simply fit in and be yourself. I appreciate that you put the feeling out there so artfully and unafraid.