On Haystack Mountain
I feel sorry for your shoes, said the man
I met descending the mountain I was climbing,
white sneakers they once were, mostly so
before trying to avoid the deep muck on the trail,
choosing the left or right route around it
at each small bog, nothing more to say,
the sneakers carrying the whole story
of their life and part of mine. Along the way,
you get wet, accumulate filth, hope you
can wash it away later. They start fresh, become
worn, are finally set aside, their usefulness
fulfilled, and surely forgotten. But you don’t
feel sorry for yourself because you’ll soon
reach the summit, savor the splendid view,
then make your way down, passing someone else
struggling through the muck.
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Jim Tilley has published three full-length collections of poetry and a novel with Red Hen Press. His short memoir, The Elegant Solution, was published as a Ploughshares Solo. His poem, “On the Art of Patience,” was selected by Billy Collins to win Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize for Poetry. Four of his poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His next poetry collection, Ripples in the Fabric of the Universe: New & Selected Poems, will be published in June 2024.
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Stone Poetry Quarterly 