Unlaced

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. - Thoreau

that unforgettable, fleeting day of my youth

with the beatles playing through the speakers

dad took me to the store and bought me new sneakers

i was running like the wind

no, i was the wind

jumping over hedges

racing with the angels

bouncing about on cloud 9

a strong gale

unable to fail

invincible

inconvincible

in that place where rubber souls hit road

uncouth

missing a tooth

in that long ago, blessed day of my youth

a day that came and went, too quickly, like the breeze

without a trace

unlaced

Author's Note

"Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in." - Thoreau

Reviews

[barleygirl]

On the literal level, your poem does a dynamic job of transporting the reader back to some time in youth when some new thing was all the rage, consuming one's attention. I used to be a jogger, so I remember how new shoes always made it feel like I could leap tall buildings. But also on the figurative level, your message reminds of how youth was a time when some little thing could make us orbital happy instead of like so many old farts now, sitting around bitching about s**t (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Pete]

lol. you're correct on both levels although looking back on it now i think the thrill was not so much the sneakers themselves but rather that he would take the time to take me (spending time with me rather than working all the time) although i was orbital happy wearing them (as you say). i remember when a seemingly small thing now like a new pair of sneakers was a huge thing back then. life and & time passing has a way of robbing the wide-eyed innocence and enthusiasm of youth - bravo to those who don't let that happen. thanks for getting it ... :)

p.s. saw on the news that the smoke from the wildfires is a health hazard for those breathing it. they also said that smoke from california has reached all the way to europe. scary awful ... :)

[barleygirl]

Love this share . . . thanks for taking the time!

[Ruth]

I like the finale a lot Pete, the "unlaced" adding adventure to the already adventurous piece :) Lovely energy, the freedom of youth, so fleeting but so magickal :)

[Pete]

those glorious days of youth - so magical but so fleeting. we were invincible. if we can hold onto that feeling by tying it with a knot, we don't have to get old (at least not on the inside). thank you ruth ... :)

[Einstein Noodle]

i love this Pete. the title a fine hook says i! and that pic absolutely sent me noodle into a spin .. my memory spin of yarns :) i choose not to link the video tho .. the original is serious enough but good ol' Ugly Kid Joe made it kind of creepy to me. me sneakers ... oh my ... i had them and wore the heck out of them ... wouldn't be replaced until the bottoms flapped :) ... a glorious day when, as a paper boy, i could make my own purchases .. red dot ... Keds ... PF flyers (of course) ..then Converse came along .. oh my .. what memories of flying over those hedges ... great write ... universal in the good ol' USA ... so relateable ... love the pic .. not the music ;) and youth .. untied ... figuratively speaking .. we were at times ... our small rebellions ... and literally untied became such a numb skull fad says i ... who would ever walk around with those shoe laces tripping up ones flight :))))))))))) thanks for sharing .. certainly something for everyone as sneakers are still retro cool and desirable. peace brother!
E.

[Pete]

i too was a paperboy and eventually was able to buy my own chic ones but that memory of the one's my dad got me were very special. a sobering reminder on perspective - such a seemingly small thing as a pair new sneakers was meant the world back then and how things get comfortable with age (perhaps too comfortable at times and we sun chance or lose perspective). i concur on the music (joe's version a bit creepy).
will change it to the original version. thanks e. hoping nothing trips you up as you walk your dog in the early morning dark ... :)

[Pete]

shun change

[Einstein Noodle]

ahahahaha ... about 12 yrs ago I advanced to a pair of Ed Hardy sneakers i found when visiting upstate NY .. my teen stomping ground .. oh ..those were as good as my friend .. but now there are only imitations out there :( and yeah .. something should never change .. i do agree! :)

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed our youth is here and gone as you tell in this well described piece of rhymed poetry. Only feelings and fragments left for us to savour.

[Pete]

thank you john. at least the memories last - we can tie those up with a double-knot so they don't slip off ... :)