Forgetting to Hike
I forgot to hike
as I pranced across a concert stage
like I did
when your silver-paisley siblings
guarded and garnished my feet.
I forgot to hike
but I spoke about Dolly Parton and Rhiannon Giddens
unlike I did
when your silver-paisley siblings
danced at my wedding
strode into conference rooms
whirled through college classrooms
then they faded and retired
as I learned about charity’s harms
listened to recipients of white saviorism
questioned the conscience of capitalism
and I replaced your siblings
with jeweled jutti shipped directly from India.
I forgot to hike
but I paused to stare
at the trees as I walked
from asphalt parking lots
to grand lawns etched with concrete sidewalks
to tiled and carpeted floors undergirded with cement
paid for by the labor
of families
and teenagers
and twenty-somethings
and our taxes.
Strained by this hardscape
I settled on you
to hold my age-stretched foot ligaments
to protect my accidentally altered ankle tendons
to ensure the longevity of my decaying hips and knees,
but I read about your current investor-owners,
and I modded your laces.
I forgot to hike
then I noticed a different parking lot along my commute
and I tested you
in pebble stepping
leaf crunching
creek crossing,
and I remembered.
