The Pair
There was a woman stayed with us
In camp one night
Said one amongst wasn’t going to make it
To where we’re going
Wherever that is
In the morning the sun stepped out
Of her hoopskirt put her birds in the trees
Like an old woman hanging up mugs
That aren’t quite dry
By which I mean that
In the morning the woman was gone
Maybe she was the one she meant
Everyone said but we knew
She meant one of us
We all had ideas as to who it would be
Turned out it was this boy who
Just the day before
Had taken his shoes off
And started carrying them by the laces
We figured he had blisters
But when we asked him
He said his feet felt fine
He just wanted to feel the road
So he’d remember what it felt like
When he wasn’t on it anymore
And we laughed at him and said
Hell of a thing to want to remember
That night we were sitting around the fire
When all of a sudden he stood up
And walked off into the dark
Leaving us
To figure out what to do with his shoes
One man said why not
Throw them into the fire
Another said why not
Hang them in a tree
But I couldn’t do either
So now I’m carrying them
Just like the boy did
As if he was only teaching me how
And sometimes I feel like his ghost
Is right here beside me
Floating two feet off the ground