How do you track your growth?
Do you have a height chart
on the entrance of your bedroom,
Scratched messily in with pencil,
tracking both your height
and your handwriting?

Maybe your hallway is lined
with school pictures from every grade,
starting with pigtails and bright colors
ending with the classic senior formal.
Maybe a goth phase thrown in
somewhere in the middle school years,
or another phase equally regretted.
(Don't lie, we all had those.)

Everyone has some way
to track their lives.
Diaries and scrapbooks,
Boxes filled with memories
from your days as a Girl Scout.

But so much can be revealed
by the shoes you throw haphazardly
by the front door.

The tiny, brightly colored velcros
you remember from first grade
laying next to your older brother’s
muddy sneakers.

Who can forget the pride you felt
about those great light up Sketchers.
You actually kept those nice-
as nice as any child can keep their shoes.

Let’s not talk about the Heely’s-
the permanent scuff marks
on the kitchen tile
and the story of that time
you Heel-ied straight
into a brick wall
that your parents love to tell
speak for themselves.
(You kept those shoes
even when your nose
hurt when you breathed.)

Flip flops that progressively
get more worn out
as the summer goes on,
complete with a small pile of sand
that seems to never sweep away.

Eventually, you’ll put away
the combat boots.
Your doorway will instead
have the company of work shoes:
a nice pair of sturdy sneakers,
dress shoes, a pair of simple black flats.
And. of course, the red heels
for when you’re feeling fun.
Time’s moved on and you’ve grown.
Your shoes reflect that.

But you’ll always remember the shoes
you wore when you could barely walk,
let alone tie them yourself.
And maybe one day they’ll find
their way into your house again,
and start the cycle over.