feet.

under butcher cream sole itch

and blistered nerve endings

the path is long, and longer barefoot

there's a compromise i had to take

i threw away my shoes

to get closer to my mother

and each rock and glass shard

pushed me oh so farther

on mercury gravel pathways

the enlightened men suffer

in sandals and ripped sweatpants

they fold over their knees

their holy incense and gibberish tongues 

they walk barefoot, blistered as such

but i have my own sacrament, and miss their gods

in their robes and their drool, 

bent over praying in a fetal posture

my wounds will never hurt as much

and as a sufferer, i haven't met their God above

as they pray, i pray not to step on their needles

because im still barefoot

i threw away my shoes

to get closer to my mother

and i walked with saints among the dead man

she doesnt see how her children suffer