Walk A Mile... Poem by Kevin Patrick

You might be able
To walk a mile
in a person's shoes
But what you can't do
Is walk the 10 000 miles
That burned their soles
And put the splinters
in those aged toes

You haven't
climbed their mountains
Of mile high edifices
Skinned jagged edges
Cutting your feet
On near defeat
Or found yourself
Walking over landmines
in the no man's land
Of your own purgatory
Without a friend
But plenty of foes
You haven't worn yourself
With crippling cartridge
Of runners knee
Scraped yourself good
With quite pleads
That go unheard


No... you haven't
Lived in those feet
Haven't felt the
Sprained ankles
Or broken bones
lacerated Achilles
The tender pain
That those shoes know
Your just a visitor
Checking in and
Checking out
But never
Really living in
those worn out soles



So...
by all means
walk that mile
But you will
never know
The thousand
mile Hells
Those shoes have
Earned