Sneakers on a Wire
By Partho Roy
Fly high, Sneakers on a Wire—
I salute you.
Who first cast you up on that line,
knowing not what he had abandoned?
Yet nobly you’ve dangled ever since.
How faithfully you’ve hung,
high above the pavement strung,
weathering hot days and gloomy nights
all through the fickle spring,
the torrents of summer showers,
the colorful darts of autumn,
and winter’s arctic chill.
Sway proudly, old shoes!
Balk at the wind laboring to bully you
down from your long-standing perch.
Never enslave yourself to gravity;
for you’ve spent too many years,
suspended in your bird’s eye glory,
to give in now to Nature’s force.
Go on tempting the lightning,
dodging the birds’ droppings,
and shooing the flies and hornets
who swarm around your fuzzy portals,
looking to make you theirs alone.
Who can know what old stories you hold,
caked upon your muddied soles,
and what strange funk you harbor inside
that plush and dank interior realm
below the scuffed leather of your skin
and the worn rubber of your heels?
So fly high, Sneakers on a Wire,
you’ll forever be my neighborhood flag,
my symbol of endurance.
Partho Roy
Partho Roy is a twenty-five year old graduate student
in the Program in Biomedical Ethics at the University of Maryland,
Baltimore. The son of Indian immigrants, he was born and raised in
Tampa, Florida and attended college in Gainesville. A lifetime student
who plans a career in medicine, Partho likes to spend his free time
writing short stories, opinion pieces, poetry, and classical music.
In 2000, Partho was the Grand Prize winner
of the "Bachstravaganza!" limerick contest given by WETA-FM
(NPR) in Washington, DC. He has written numerous book reviews on
Amazon.com, and his letters, articles, and artwork have appeared
recently in The Baltimore Sun, The Cantonsville Times,
The Baltimore City Paper, and The View from Catonsville.
He can be reached by email at parthor@yahoo.com.
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