Pairs  (2025 Nov) 

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The exercise starts by looking down—
shoes first, always shoes—
guessing who might be inside them.
age, job, intention,
a small story invented too quickly.

Then the guessing softens into observing:
who is wearing what,
At this moment, in this place?
Is there a trace to follow,
or only a trend passing through?

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Sneakers in a performing arts theatre,
leather shoes strolling through a park.
and when there is a lot to walk—
a march, a tourist route, an airport, on a bus...
distance insisting on the body—
What do they choose then?

It turns out it isn’t really about where or when,
It’s about who.

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The attention drops again,
from shoes to walking.
how they move, how they hesitate.

one pair becomes two people,
Four shoes negotiating a rhythm.
some steps rush, some slow,
some soles still stiff and new,
others worn into knowing each other
for a very long time.

on and on it goes.
listen to this step—
Who do you think it is?

and then, quietly,

These shoes start to remind me
of where I was,
and where I am now,
step by step.