boots in Chicago

It's chilly here and everybody's wearing boots, including me.  (I didn't need those other pairs of shoes I brought.)  I got to thinking about my first pair of boots, c. 1980, and what they did to me--on the inside.  This is #19 in MyPoPerDayMo.






Boots
George Sand on her men's hob-nailed boots: "I would willingly have slept with them, as my brother did when he was very little, when he was given his first pair. With their little metal heels I was firmly grounded on the pavement."


These boots are a black mask for my feet.
Far from my face, still
they shift my balance, turn me into a bandit
who steals into secret identities, then

sneaks out wielding Xena’s sword
and George’s pen,
climbs into Amelia’s Electra
wearing Nancy’s miniskirt,
mouth full of Penelope’s bubblegum
as she blows out a story
as fireproof as Saint Joan’s.

Heidi Mordhorst 2011
all rights reserved