The New Shoes

5.27.06

They arrived in a crushed cardboard box

from Spain

where, handwrought, the suede was molded

to cup the toes and wrap the heels

and nails were hammered into leather

lasts.

She held them in her hands a moment

before slipping eager feet into a new arch

then felt her hips angle away from the earth.

Knees bent her long legs into grasshopper strides

and the tilt arced her back

while her chest opened to the heavens.

Now her arms flung wide

and her wrists slowly rotated inward

as fingers articulated a domino roll

dripping energy onto the floor.

Her chin thrust forward

and her hair fell back, black and tangled,

between naked shoulder blades.

As the first llamada called across the continent

she raised a foot

and like the hammer of a blacksmith

slammed it down on the anvil of her life.