Verve 2022 | Page 45

Today when I palm these I see nothing but a shoe It ’ s not sparkling like a dream It ’ s not calling me to shoot So if I asked myself , Would I like to be wide eyed , And sold manufactured dreams Even if they were a lie ?
I ’ d say yes in a heartbeat And go back to being a child
With a toothbrush and a smile , Ready to run a mile
Ready to shoot some hoops Embrace failure in a loop , Ready to be disillusioned
By the non-marking sole , that marked my soul
Each of these pairs reads to me a verse , Stories I can ’ t remember , If only we could converse
So you ’ d fill my memory ’ s void And maybe reimburse
The presents of my past , Take my present to the past
These hits of nostalgia are quite sweet , But maybe they ’ d be sweeter in use Than totems just to see , Perhaps a sole for bare footed feet Walking in an even rougher street Rougher than the dreamy walk Down my memory ’ s concrete
Yet at this moment I inhale them off my hand Feel the etched sole
Taking me back to another land , An old forgotten memory
Call it nostalgic utility Or maybe even a remedy For my childhood heart
To feel a beat , But should these be mine to keep ?