Let Us Now Praise Workers’ Shoes
Rent from DeepDyve- Let Us Now Praise Workers’ Shoes
Blessed is he who considers the poor!
—Psalm 41:1, RSV
Where have they been unlaced, scuffed off,put today? Back porch, pantry, the bottomof half-dark basement stairs? Sometimes Daddysets them to trip us all, socks on top,
right smack-dab where everybody walks.They’re so poorly, all caved in, tongue hanginglike some old dog’s that’s trailed all night. Bunionmarks worn into the leather. Chalky
dust to whir up into your noseif you stir them. But he’s going out to farm,in mud that sucks off shoes, in ankle-deepbarn-yard muck, out long dusty rows!
He makes his own perfume. Sharp smellscome from inside and out these all-day homes,smells that testify. But grandpa’s brogans,just as broken in, set aside, they tell
of feet that fill a corner bed,out of everybody’s way. We’ll feed him soupwhen we get a minute’s breath, and think of shoesthat walked long miles to keep us fed. [End Page 40]
Charles A. Swanson lives in the Callands Community, near Turkeycock Mountain, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, where he was born. He has farmed throughout his life at times with his grandparents, his parents, his wife, and his children. Retired from teaching English at Gretna High School, he now teaches at Danville Community College part time and also pastors the Melville Avenue Baptist Church in Danville, Virginia. He has published two poetry books.
