save me from ...

save me from wearing boots
whenever possible



i roam barefoot around the post-WWII warsaw
ruins and construction sites
step on nails without blinking
at night i remove crumbs of thick
broken glass from the skin on my feet

i take off
straight from the floor
and fly over a pummel horse
the moscow olympians
disbelieving: barefoot? no trampoline?
make me feel awkward
but no—they are friendly

soon back in poland
jan takes me to tatras
i am never to see them again
nor jan
early autumn
suddenly off the trail
we take in the dangerous majesty
jan walks down in small steps
i jump from a rock on the one below
again and again
i fly like over a pummel horse

bye poland
hippie america greets me
then after a dozen years
the disco scene
guys are good
i boogie barefoot

my poetry
is a barefoot affair
i never liked
boots







wh,
2015-02-17