You call the memory of scrap bones to question
with the evidence of dirt trapped and history burnt
together in solidarity against faux class of luxury.
You, the strand of god’s ego in my voice, and my old Itel
phone in its iPhone pouch, are the bravest in the world.
Every thread in you was brushed into comfort for my toes.
The secrets we made, the twitchings that sing anxiety away,
you bodied them well, tapping at the nub
of time spent tapping. Before I bruised your snout
into wrecks, you had been there for me the most—
through the sun and through dust, the puddle of the road,
the silent treks, the police chase, the protest marches—
your laces held tight in a testament of zeal.
Now every alphabet of your mis-branding is peeled
away by the salt of time, and every yarn fades.
Things I love age too fast, and time, like the rat
it is, has left you half-eaten— your twinned consonants
bellying the separate paths we must go. E
Ode to My Adibas Sneakers
by
Olumide Manuel is a poet, educator, and environmentalist. He is a 2x Pushcart nominee, a Best of Net nominee and the winner of the Ake Climate Change Poetry Prize 2022. His poems have been recently published by A Long House, Waccamaw Journal, Fiyah Magazine, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Barrelhouse, and Full House Literary.
