SHOELACES

I told him about how
the first day my father met my mother
he bent down and untied her shoelace
just so that she should have an excuse to ask him
to help her tie up loose ends and make knots that don't come undone.

And so he began untying my shoelaces everyday,
and retying them again when I asked
so that I couldn't start my mornings without thinking of him,
every time I slipped on my high tops.

He tied and untied my shoes everyday until we broke up,
and even then, sometimes he would look at me, bend down,
and pull out the string that held my path together,
and walk away.

Until we both needed to stop our hearts from tripping,
so he bought shoes without laces,
and I started using double knots.