Did they just slip them off?
or
Did they lean over to untie?
or
Did they sit in the dirt and pull?
or
Did they help one another yank boots?
Possibly relief with a sigh was heard
after days and daze of walking.
Frayed laces and broken buckles.
Souls worn out on the edges
tossed onto the pile.
Settled in a pyramid, a mountain
so that from a distance its image
was distorted so.
It could have been a Pol Pot
skullpture.
Rwandan round down
a senseless tribal down, tribal down.
I look down at my shoes.
We look down on our shoes.
How did these pairs match up with humanity?
It wasn’t as easy as three clicks wishing they were home.
I will tie them tightly.
I will wear them lightly.
Oh, come and let us not wear out any more souls.
Oh, God help us pair them up again.
On bended knee lace one another’s up.
On bended decree vow to end this repetition of history.
Gerald the Writer 
Well written – this one will haunt me especially this image:
Frayed laces and broken buckles.
Souls worn out on the edges
tossed onto the pile.
dang jerry…def a haunting write…the skullpture…chilling…i never want to encounter a worn out pile of souls…
I can get so overwhelmed when I think of the atrocities that happen in our world. These are difficult words and images, but they need to be seen and heard.
Powerful, haunting write. Never stop telling this story. So many choose not to believe. Excellent.
Powerful images – and I love d the last line…
The images you evoked with this are chilling. So many symbols to choose from, yet the shoes seem to stop time, telling the tale of their owner’s final steps in this world. Beautiful work.
Wow. This one has power!
Is that first pic a holocaust image? I’ve seen some bl & wh ones of piles of shoes and piles of eye glasses.
Your poem seems to ask if perhaps we all walk in each others’ shoes all the time.
I missed this one last time.. powerful and beautiful. i was moved ~
I recall that pic from the holocaust image… thanks for sharing this~