In Every Step

Notice the little things:
how high the foot lifts at each step,
how it lands, whether more on heel or ball,
whether heavy or soft,

and the length of the stride,
whether short or long,
and how it varies
with purpose and distraction,

or how the right matches the left
and whether one leads and one follows,

or how the toes point toward a future,
whether straight, widening, or narrowing,

and the movement,
whether flowing or choppy,

and how it all adds into a presence
finding a foothold on the earth;

how that lift and fall carries a body,
like a ghost floating on air
or a log bobbing in water,

and how that body carries a life,
moving through time and space,
a life shaped by that body;

how those eyes, those ears,
and those hands created a world
to which that walk relates
and in which that person resides,

at times longing,
lamenting, livid,
laughing and loving.

a life embodied in breathe
and blood and beholding moments,
all spirit and energy molding memories
for which there is no precedence
and there is no equal in the universe.

I am a people-watcher, an activity I enjoy while waiting in airports, or hotel lobbies, or while on walks both in my homeland and abroad. I often imagine what it might be like to be in another person's skin, to have a certain body shape or walk in a certain way. In Every Step is a poem about the process of "Going Other," which is one of the best techniques I learned from NLP. Going Other is actually a mature version of what we all do as small children when we play act and "become" someone else.

I sometime use my imaginal walk in another person's shoes as a source for poetry and have a whole series of these poems in a set I call "Lives."