Step Lightly

Can I learn how to step lightly
and quickly away
as the angry cement hardens
underfoot
on this repaved path
that (not long ago)
felt so springy and smelled
so freshly sweet?

In the end, can my shoes
be cleaned off well enough
or must they be thrown away
leaving me barefoot?

(Hard to imagine
when you grow up in a home
where you put on your slippers
as soon as you come in the door.)