Sorting it out toe-to-toe

"I sorted Mommy's shoes," our first-grader grins

after making our bedroom a minefield of footwear:

ranks of shoes pulled from our closet.

We divide discards from keepers.

I pile treasures:

spikes, boots, wedges, slings, mules.

Patent leather winks up at me like fish

in the bottom of a tropic lagoon.

My wife heaps up flats, sneakers, slippers.

Rubber soles bend. Languid laces entwine.

Canvas, suede, pinks, pastels collect,

a windfall of New England leaves.

My wife directs a stern finger

at my gleaming, angular mass:

"Your pile's junk."

First, I protest, then, sighing, surrender,

watch her toss the shimmering shoes,

a catch of exotic fish

gone bad.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Publishing Society

You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to Sorting it out toe-to-toe
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0305/p23s3.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us