The shoe laces on my Puma trainers are frayed
Not all four of them - only two
The left on the left
and the right on the right.
They have become thick and unruly
with the lengthening fraying.
I think I have a spare set of shoe laces
White trainer ones that would fit nicely
But where did I leave them?
In the third drawer down in the kitchen
(now here's another story)
With two sets of washing machine stabiliser bolts
Name Indesit and Hoover
And the charger for my toothbrush
And three different colour patches for paddling pools
That have been long dispatched to the tip
After spending the winter filling will scummy rain
And breeding grounds for mozzies
And a yellow tin of petrol to refill my father's silver plated lighter.
Yet the fraying keeps expanding
And the shoes laces won't feed back through the loops
Leaving ends that splatter causing trip hazards
Which brush slap marks on the pavement when it rains
And suck up the water like heavy rope.
My white Puma trainers are dirty and green
from walking the dog on recently cut grass
and squelching through soggy verges
They smell of cat pee and cheese
Although I just washed them last week.
