Narrative Poem: Shoes at the gym

 you're not allowed to look

at people's faces anymore.

everyone's freaking out about

facial recognition --

so to make eye contact

with strangers

is tantamount to attacking

them with a pen knife.

so I look at their shoes.

especially at the gym

when I'm working out

on the stationary bike.

there are big TV screens

bolted to the walls that

silently play ESPN,

but I find that about as

interesting

as plywood. so I

look down at the kind

of shoes people wear

while they work out.

or pretend to work out.

one in three are Nike brand.

one in three. and that's not

counting the Nike socks

they wear.

that company has taken

a chain saw to

the money tree.

black is the predominant

color of gym shoes.

but there are hot pink

and highway orange as well.

lots of shoes have a criss-cross

on them,

or the letter 'N.'

are those brands?

me, I wear Crocs to the gym.

They're so comfortable.

and they keep my heels from

jarring.

because I'm fat.

I lost weight by skipping

breakfast for a few months.

but that made me cranky

and carnal.

so now I eat bacon and 

eggs, sardines and toast,

ramen noodles with kimchi

and fried ham

in the morning.

and I'm a better

fatter

person for it.