Today
I gave an old woman some shoes
just shoes
I didn't give her catalog to choose from
just shoes
Some old beaten up Nikes
with sweat stains from PE...
that happened to be sitting in the back of my car
but it seemed to have gone so far
to have meant so much
it touched her
it mattered in a way that I have never mattered before
Handing her those shoes made my heart soar
to have watched her walking in wearing a pair of
duct-tape bound, lay-around tennis shoes
that she must have worn for years
on it stains of old lady tears, of broken dreams
and countless fears
Toes protruding
blackened by a hard life lived
but never fully thriving always diving away from the onslaught of failure
To know that now she walks with her feet fully covered
to know that they are made warmer
because I choose not be selfish
Maybe now she will feel a bit less helpless
Thanks to me and some shoes
just shoes
I didn't know it meant so much just to give
then i realized I didn't know how much it meant to live
To have shoes on my feet that were whole
to have socks beneath them, warming comfortable and privileged toes
Who knows
what life would be like for me
if I had never stumbled across a little old lady
with battered and tattered up shoes
Not even shoes
but the skeletal remains of what were once shoes
These moments are the clues
that help solve life's mystery
there is only way to live
it's to give
