Those Shoes

Overheard: Two women in their 50s: He’s a nice guy. I don’t know much about him, but I really like him.

Where it took me: I used this line in conjunction with an exercise to write two descriptions of the same place but in different situations. Instead of a place, I wrote about a relationship at two different points in time. The ending surprised me; I like the ambiguity. What's your interpretation of the ending?

The poem

Those Shoes

I like how tall he is. Not too tall.

I like his brown eyes. Not too showy.

I like the way he parks at a meter and has enough change to pay.

How he doesn’t circle the block

looking for something better.

I like his jeans. Not old-man jeans, but not skinny jeans either.

I like the grey sweater.

Fitted, tidy, no moth holes.

I like the shoes. Not hikers. Real shoes.

I like that he wants to know what I’m reading.

That he can answer that question, too.

I like that we’ve read some of the same books.

That we haven’t.

I like that he owns a bike.

And rides it.

That he doesn’t mention every new restaurant in town.

That he knows how to cook.

Stacey says everybody’s better before you know too much.

Before ‘cooking’ means one recipe

and you never see those shoes again.