I am belatedly posting my poem that I had written on the day we met Mr. Saeed Jones. Mr. Jones’s encouragement along with hearing the poet himself inspired me to create my own poem. My poem, “The Shoe”, similarly follows the format of “The Blue Dress” by Saeed Jones.

a shoe is art,

is a shield

is an expression of individuality

is a gateway to adventure and shares all experiences that would be unattainable without them,

is a collectors item,

is a riot producer,

is a brainwasher,

is a murder-causer,

with its absence life wouldn’t be the same

Lines 6, 7, and 8 are similar in a sense that they have to do with the sneaker-head culture. I chose the words “riot producer”, “brainwasher” and “murder-causer” because in the past, people used to gather outside a shoe store starting the day before a release in order to get the chance to secure a pair. These gatherings would turn into riots due to people cutting other people and also the hype that is built around a shoe- similar to a door opening on Black Friday. This hype surrounding the shoes brainwash people into spending ridiculous amounts of money on them and cause them to waste their day away waiting on line. Specifically, the powerful word “murder” was used because on several accounts, people all over the world have been killed over the shoes on their feet. Usually in robberies people have died trying not to give in their prized possessions. This is not just a new thing that is happening. In 1989, Michael Thomas was found “strangled in the woods near his school by seventeen-year-old James David Martin”. Another example of similar occurrence is seen in December of 2012, when twenty-two year old Joshua Woods was shot and killed by three men in an attempted robbery. Shoes are not just the things that you wear everyday on your feet to get around, but they have formed a culture and can also be sold for profit. Wherever there is money involved, there is danger.