By Siti Sarah Sofea
People call you ungrateful for hoping for better quality of shoes,
saying "you should be grateful that you have them,"
knowing nothing about the nails in your shoes,
stabbing and dragging your flesh in every step you take.
Your shoes are akin to little red pools but you have to act comfy.
Every stride you take is accompanied with Pain
but you hold your head up and smile every time people stop and praise your shoes.
"What a choice!" as the 9 inch shoes owner exclaims while everyone gushes about their unique shoes.
"I wish I had them," they say as they walk barefoot leisurely.
"Nice one!" as they walk with the shiny polished shoes, fully confident.
One thing that everyone including you seems to forget is that
they don't walk in your shoes
and you don't walk in theirs.
Author’s Commentary: As I was looking for a suitable picture that resonates with the poem above, I found an installation work, ‘Over the Continents’ by Chiharu Shiota (a part of the Perspectives series of modern art). Red strings usually symbolise fate and connectedness; for this particular artwork, I believe the red yarn used to tie the shoes together implies that we are all interconnected. Despite how interconnected we are, just as there are different handwritten notes (which contain different stories of the shoes owners) on each of the hundreds of shoes, I believe that we all have different beliefs, experiences, and situations that cannot be easily judged by those who do not wear the same shoes as ours.
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