Old Shoes Poem by Randy McClave

These old shoes that I enjoy to wear
To take me both here and there,
I have wore them on journeys of many miles
Which brought me many victories and smiles.
They are soft and they are broken in
From the roads and travels where I have been,
They have took me to many wonderful places
With them I have ran many races.
When I have walked up and down many a road
Many know of my load,
These old shoes that I wear are scuffed and tore
They show others where I have been before.
I wore these shoes in both mud and creeks
Same shoes I have wore for days and weeks,
I've worn them when I climbed mountains
And I wore them walking near great fountains,
I wear them when I walked my dogs
And I wore them at night near ponds looking for frogs.
I wore these shoes when I helped others move
When their life they needed to improve,
And when I needed to mow my lawn
These are the very same shoes that I would put on.
Now when many look and and see my shoes
They know of my journeys, my deeds and my dues,
But, when the wealthy and privileged see the shoes on my feet
They see only defeat.

Randy L. McClave