Red Shoes

all that autumn you step from the train

as if something were burning

something is burning

running across the green grass bare feet

that day death was only

what we lose in fall comes back in spring

something is burning

from the train you climb

smoke between the skyscrapers

Paris was so beautiful, the sky—

all that autumn

then tears

Why do we do this again?

she turns to you in the kitchen

she puts her arms around you

she is wearing those red shoes

Credit

Author

Honor Moore

Poet and memoirist Honor Moore is the author of three collections of poetry: Red Shoes: Poems (W. W. Norton & Co., 2006); Darling (Grove Press, 2001); and Memoir (Chicory Blue Press, 1988). Moore is also a nonfiction writer, most recently of the memoir A Bishop’s Daughter: A Memoir (W. W. Norton & Co., 2008), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Moore has edited numerous books of poetry, plays, and feminist writings, including Women’s Liberation!

Date Published

01/01/2005