by Anna Kovaleva
There’s a tradition in Ann Arbor to throw shoes onto power lines.
Hundreds hidden under leaves.
Many on display with nothing much around them.
Some even hang so low you could almost reach them.
I like the idea of making a mark on a city that made a mark on you.
Leaving a part of yourself for others to notice,
to speculate who you were, why you lived here and
what you lost and found in this city.
One day, I imagine my shoes will join countless others.
They’ll bear witness to the growth I have had here:
the classes followed by late-night study sessions,
the friendships forged working in a bustling restaurant,
the passions for poetry and psychology
and pursuit to never stop learning about everything around me,
the lessons learned from a first car accident,
And lazy Sunday afternoons with the one I love.
So many memories and moments and
I wonder if a lone pair of shoes on a powerline can carry that much emotion.
photo credit: e. biswas
Anna Kovaleva is a student studying psychology at U of M and loves anything creative; wearing many hats as a poet, photographer, and painter. The shoes dangling from the powerlines of Ann Arbor inspired this poem through Anna’s reflection on many treasured memories they have made here and wonder at how symbolic objects often can’t begin to describe the true value that places hold in one’s heart.
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This is an original poem, brought to you by Poet Tree Town, a Washtenaw-based poetry-in-public initiative and celebration of local poets. Find out more about Poet Tree Town on Instagram and Facebook, or say hello at [email protected].
