Sunday, January 02, 2011

Kilmer 2010: Third Runner-Up ("Stiletto Boot on the Side of the Highway")

Stiletto Boot On The Side Of The Highway

by Juliana Strawn BC ʻ14


Stiletto boot on the side of the highway

Like my soul.

Broken, dirty, missing a strap.


O, my soul.

Am I nothing more than an old stiletto

tossed aside on the road?

Are my sins visible

like a broken stiletto heel?

Could a beaver live inside me?

Is there any hope for life

in my broken, broken soul?


Despite my Grandfatherʼs protests,

I stop the car

and pull over on the side of the road.


The door creaks when I open it.

Creak creak.

My soul creaks when I open it.

Creak creak.

I need to oil it so it wonʼt creak.


I pick up the stiletto boot.

My soul.

I sniff it.

Is it empty?

No! There is a family of worms in it!

There is life in my soul!


I take the stiletto to my grandfather.

How can this bitter old man understand my awakening?

I place the stiletto boot in his lap.

He cautiously picks it up

and tentatively eats part of it.

A hunger for knowledge.

I think he understands.

No comments: