Some Pairs of Shoes

My shoes

My pairs of shoes.

I kept them nicely, in boxes

My most reliable friends

Organized 

by color, by season

by how close they were to my heart

Shoes from every year of my life

And next to them,

an array of supplies

to clean, to dust off

To keep perfect

But slowly,

despite my efforts,

they got dirty, they got torn

They got old

Still, I kept them.

And soon,

faster than expected,

it was time to leave.

"The next stage of your life!"

How could I choose

between my companions?

Each reflected its own memories,

its own stories, 

and my efforts.

Each box held a piece of my heart,

and a part of my life.

I took one out,

my favorite pair,

retired to its box,

for it had grown too old,

too dirty

too small.

And all I could see were memories

Each night I had worn them

and they had gotten dirty.

How I would clean them vigorously 

the next day.

The shoe was no more.

but The memories endured.

And then I knew

that what I was holding onto 

so tightly

was not my pairs of shoes but

my childhood

for, in them,

there was a timeline

something that represented the phases of my life.

So I picked each box up

tears clouding my vision

and I threw them away.

I did not need old shoes,

for they did not fit

or they were falling apart.

I had needed them for what they meant,

but that had always been in my heart.

The shelf slowly emptied,

until one box remained.

A box, holding the pair

that I had bought 

for the next stage of my life.

And that was all I needed.

Just a pair of shoes.