Walking In Mine Own Shoes Poem by Julius Selasi Komla Adjor

For many a year, I have been walking in other men's shoes
My place in this sojourn, dictated to me conditionally
I have endured the scorn, the heckling and the ridicule
Because the shoes I have been walking in, are other men's shoes

For many a year I have felt uneasy
At times I wanted to increase my pace, I was forced to slow down
And at other times when I wanted to slow down, my dictators forced me to gallop
My every action, was but to please the owners of these shoes

Funny enough and surprising still
These shoes that I have been walking in are not brand new;
But rugged, tattered, worn-out and torn second-hand dole outs!
And for many a year, I had to make do with them;
Not having a shoe of mine own, I had to walk in other men's shoes

Some of these shoes were so heavy; they weighed me down
Some were so light; my walk became a sprint
Some so small; they pinched and hurt my feet
Others so large; they had room for extra feet!

What else would you get for walking in another man's shoes?
Either you were afraid of tearing an already torn shoe
Or always dreaded making a dirty shoe dirty
In preference to walking in another man's shoes,
It is high time I walked barefooted!

For many a year, I have dreaded this day of change
A break from the norms and dictates of others
Never again to live at the beck and call of another man
Because of a borrowed pair of his unwanted shoes! !

The order has changed, I awake to a new dawn
For once, I would continue this journey to wherever it ends
in my own pair of shoes;
They might not be new, nor it's quality the finest
But from now on, I am man of mine own….
And I walk..
In mine own pair of shoes