Poem Number 23121

Life without shoes

We could spend our whole lives in shoes,
never feeling the ground beneath us.
But with bravery, naked-feet explore
terrains we've treaded a thousand times
but not yet noticed.
Suddenly we experience the paths for what they really are,
what they've always been:
hard and soft
cold and warm
smooth and rough,
safe or dangerous.
We are feeling what has been there all along--
real earth and cement--
previously undiscovered,
hid until now under thin soles
of plastic, rubber or leather.
-------
-obscured
-------
Thought provoking