The Skeletons of Imelda Marcos

by Salvatore Difalco

Bees in your head,
toes in your shoes
like a girl wearing a crown
or the truth putting on its feet
a pair of ruby mules.

Thinking about the slick kicks
I had to rock on a ship
with the sealing wax
side of my body language—
I liked the way I walked.

“I had the blues because
I had no shoes until I met
a dude who had no feet.”
Tarzan never wore them.
Every day I wear the same ones.

Outgrow the loafers of your expectations.
but keep them buffed till then.
Many a pair wear out between
saying and doing,
or feeling this or that.

Every shoe is like a song.
But they won’t make you rich.
They won’t make you beautiful
They won’t win you friends
or lean in when you’re miserable.

Only she who sees takes off her shoes.
“High heels differ from sneakers
and sandals unless you understand
what is motivating them.”
I do and I don’t. I do and I don’t.