‘Bold in Ballerinas’. Yes, Cinders you shall go to the ball.
The everyday has such stories to tell if only we walk slowly
and take the time to notice the little things that might show us a bigger
picture. Of course, with my knees I have little choice (a blessing), but I see
so many people rushing when they really could take their time, with a tut on
their lips as they avoid and pass my snail like pace. Sometimes it feels like
their whirlwind is trying to suck me in and drive me along to the march of
their drum. Well, I’m past all that – I really can’t and won’t be told what to
do; no matter how hard they hit the snare.
Plod on, plod on, my own pace, and if not to a drum then at
least to the beat of my old heart keeping me in time with the music around me.
That shoe though.
That bold ballerina shoe with the black and silver bow
buckle (size 3) discarded upon the pavement not five-hundred yards from my
house. The shoe that even I, slowcoach and all, almost failed to miss as it lay
on the pavement by the concrete wall surrounded by the last of the damp autumn
leaves.
That shoe.
Just who did it belong to and how did they come to lose it?
Well, it is panto season and it’s always behind you so I
don’t turn around - my mind immediately drawn to Cinderella rushing from the
ball on the stroke of midnight, Beauty fighting off the Beast and
Rumpelstiltskin stamping his way to Hell. But this was no glass slipper and, as
far as I am aware anyway, Prince Charming doesn’t live on my road in his castle.
The Little Match Girl, The Snow Queen, Hansel and Gretel,
Red Riding Hood - and the WOLF…
All the old winter tales come tumbling into my head and in a
moment I am swept up by snow geese and carried away to the ice palace to play
with the shards of a broken mirror like some old bloated Kay with a splinter in
his heart.
Just a shoe that’s all. An old shoe probably dropped by the
bin men as they heaved the rubbish bins to the waiting lorry. Just an old ‘Bold
in Ballerinas’, size 3.
That splinter hurts.
I've tried to post my thoughts here twice, but to no avail. Maybe i am not meant to.
ReplyDeleteLiz Shore on FB
ReplyDeleteAfter reading traditional tales for the past three weeks at school, I'm happy to go for the first scenario .
9 minutes ago · Like
DeleteAndrew Height
Bless you Liz, I sometimes wonder why I write this stuff at all or if anybody bothers to read it. Thing is - I have to. Christmas used to be such a dark place before Disney
Andrew, you are right Christmas can be a dark place...but I believe that even before Disney, there was a light that entered the world that drew in men (and women) towards. It allowed them to see that in that darkness there was hope, - a hope that often surfaces in some of you writings. Despite what the world seems to have us believe, we live in the hope that allows us vision from the micro into the macro of God's world (including discarded specialist footwear)...that words and actions truly do make a difference in a cynical and sceptical environment....sermon over..... sincerely wishing you the joys of Christmas for you and yours.
DeleteThanks David. I'm not sure that my God is the same as yours, but I am sure that there is something much bigger than me trying to make things better. A hard job I know, but there is always hope despite all the bad that surrounds us. You have a great and peaceful Christmas too.
ReplyDeleteSharon Taylor on FB
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you notice these things, now what happened with the message on the kerb? Oh and what is happening with the house across the road?
Andrew Height
DeleteStill no idea about the kerb message. As for the house - more later.