Mismatched Shoes Poem by Sara Militello

Mismatched Shoes

The canvas of a life must be wide writ
for the pain of it to fit;
for shoes to flit from edicts set
in cultural mire
designed as it is in stations
and striations
with little ‘twixt the wire
of each separate cage
but brutality and rage.
One must venture with care
when breaking to flee
along the slippery slope of free.
The herd does decree
that none are to seem as One
lest in trade for its Soul.
Shoes strayed from the herd
to roam free as that mythical bird
are made to feel the heel
of the 'exemplary'.
who notice, unforgiving
how free to be
are the mismatched
cast-off shoes.

October 22,1994