If I Were a Poet

These sandals have climbed the sacred steps
of Ek Balam, Angkor Wot, and Kinkaku-ji.

They’ve hiked Acadia, Zion, Cinque Terre,
and the Na Pali Coast.

They’ve followed the Freedom Trail,
from the birthplace of America
to its final resting place.

They’ve had a street-level view of New York,
Tokyo, Taipei, and Rome.

They’ve stood on carpets of moss in a redwood forest
where the sound of my breath was a prayer.

Someday these sandals will walk to the edge of the world,
and they will just keep on walking.