barefoot

i was born barefoot
and all throughout my childhood,
i had a tendency to stay that way;
even when we would go walking on the rocks,
i would go without socks or shoes, because i
thought it was beautiful, even with the pain.

you are given, hard, tough shoes
that become callused with touch, just
like me and you. they will become well-worn,
and sometimes will ache, and i demanded to stay
barefoot because i saw nothing at stake.

a number of years past, i was running and happened
to fracture the growth plate in one of my toes. that
was the day i stopped going barefoot, because hell
has painful groves. and when you break a bone, you
will learn that you can always see that little bit
of space - a seal that was put there in the past,
and had won with its little break.