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My black strappy sandals with the two-inch heels--
The ones I wore in Paris, clicking onto Rue d'Etoile
In a light rain;
The ones I wore on 6th Avenue, when I linked arms with him
before he disappeared
down a dark flight of stairs
at the Iridium.
When I slipped them on, I was someone else.
When I walked in them, I was the snap
of white tablecloth at a sidewalk café.
They have never seen inside a hospital. Or the ICU
where there are no windows
and the light is always on—
as if it were a gambling casino
or interrogation room.
If my shoes were religious, they'd genuflect.
If they could talk, they'd say "save me."
From The Quick and the Dead (Grayson Books, 2010).
Used here with the author's permission.
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Elizabeth Harrington’s poems have appeared in The Hudson Review, Field, Connecticut Review, and other journals, as well as in an anthology about divorce. She was a winner of the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award and second place winner in The Ledge Poetry Contest. Her chapbook, Earth’s Milk, (2007) was first runner-up in the Main Street Rag Chapbook Poetry contest. Another chapbook, The Quick and the Dead, took first prize in the 2010 Grayson Books competition. Elizabeth has a Ph.D. in psychology and recently started Harrington Research Associates, a market research consulting company. Elizabeth and her black cat live in Tarrytown, New York, where she hikes in the Rockefeller Preserve, does yoga, and writes.
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MabelJulie:
I love it. I just lost my favourite shoes. I am so sad, I traveled to so many amazing places in them and I found happiness while I wore them. I was a completely different person and I miss not only the shoes but this person. It's like I've lost a part of me that was much happier. This poem helped me a lot <3
Posted 04/25/2020 08:09 PM
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LRS:
Fantastic work, Betsy! I am as "wowed!" as I am deeply moved by the poems of yours that I have read here.
I neither know, nor will I ask, whether the serious illness that is a strong theme in the first work I read is personal, for a friend, or "simply" created from mind & soul. If personal, then my deep thoughts and concern along with my admiration of your talents. If not, then still, my great admiration.
Larry
Posted 09/04/2011 12:38 PM
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rdl:
love your poem
Posted 09/10/2010 09:27 PM
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ATREND:
Way to go Tante Betsy! I do love this one.
Posted 09/05/2010 10:42 AM
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Shelldis:
Betsy, you never cease to amaze and dazzle me. I've known you for so long, but I know you so much more intimately when I read your poems. This is a wonderful piece, the whole feel of it takes in so many chapters of your life. Plus, I can relate to it so well... the power of a pair of shoes!
Posted 09/03/2010 03:18 PM
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