Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Vintage

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Vintage

My Grandmother always wore sensible shoes.
Wide, low heels, usually black, neatly laced
and tied with an even bow.  Not rounded toes,
nor too pointed; she didn't like her feet
pinched.  She walked with a purposeful,
steady, no-nonsense stride.

In her attic I once found an old, worn pair
of slender, soft, rich grey, high-cut
side-buttoned "Parade" shoes
which the box advertised were for
the "Fashionable Young Lady",
sporting "stylish toes, high arches,
and emphasized "Louis" heels with "Spanish"
scrolled in fancy print just above.

Remember taking off my thick cotton socks,
as with them on, my feet were too wide.
Clunked around the wooden floor;
couldn't for the life of me begin to imagine
who these sexy shoes had once belonged.

by Margaret Bednar, August 30, 2017

This is linked with "dVerse Poetics - A Closet Full of Shoes"  Also linked with "The Imaginary Garden of Real Toads - Tuesday Platform"


16 comments:

Kim M. Russell said...

This is such a delightful memory poem, Margaret, and I can picture your grandmother in her sensible shoes, with her purposeful,
steady, no-nonsense stride. What a find in her attic! I wonder if she ever wore them.

Margaret said...

Photographs prove she was a fashionable young Edwardian lady! As a child I lacked the imagination to ever think her young :)

Frank Hubeny said...

I don't have any shoes from my grandparents. Only two grandparents I ever met and then as a child. I can see how having some of the things they used be a source of wonder.

brudberg said...

Somehow when we see our grandparents young we cannot really connect that to the young person staring back at us... love the memory you shared.

indybev said...


We seldom, if ever, think of our grandparents as being young. The shoes spoke volumes of who grandma used to be. Thank you for sharing this lovely moment!

Anonymous said...

a lovely upbeat rhythm in these shoes and what a contrast though the description of grandmother's shoes is so touching

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Gorgeous things! But I'm with grandmother – comfortable and serviceable rule.

Anonymous said...

Reading this I got the picture of my grown grandkids finding my dandling Tinkerbell earring.

Magaly Guerrero said...

The things we discover when we look around in closets and memories...

...love the image of a little girl, half-dancing around in her grandmother's fancy shoes.

annell4 said...

My grandmother wore the same kind of shoes, one day I noticed they were no longer in the stores. I wonder when they went out of style?

Margaret said...

I remember the rebirth of that style in the 1980's or so. But my Grandmother's were the real deal :)

rallentanda said...

My Grandmother had a fox fur with a head and claws in her wardrobe. I don't remember her ever wearing it. Don't remember the shoes. They would have been sensible. All Grannies of that era were sensible. I still wear her bracelet.

purplepeninportland.com said...

I love this memory, Margaret. So glad you included a photo.

MeenalSonal said...

You are so lucky to have your Grandma shoes with you. They look so beautiful. Loved the flow of emotions in this poetry.

Cheers
MeenalSonal from AuraOfThoughts

lynn__ said...

You describe a very special pair of shoes...what FUN to try them on! Just hard to believe Grandma wore them :)

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I love it. My grandma dressed very "old" in her 50's, given the times. I remember my astonishment at seeing a photo of her as a young woman. I thought she had been a grandmother forever.