Heel

as a vague point of reference, you can click HERE

slim leather strapping and the
ankle buckles
no shuffling rubber soles
but limbs, sharpened into points
drawn out and thin
extending the leg by way of wooden pegs
giving each step the poise and quivering intent
of tight-rope footing

out in the night
cosmetic hooves make audible the gait
as heel collides
with tarmac, concrete
and precarious cobbles

the agonising hobbles
giving rise to metatarsalgia
through strain of the levitating calcaneus
the uprooting plantar flexion
that breaks the arc
that forces digits into the ground
squeezing stumps
into prosthetic
6-inch
stilts

there's a whiff of nest and stable in it
the ostentation of peacocks
and their difficult manoeuvrings
living out a dichotomous balance
between titillation and practicality
between empowerment and submission

imagine a phalanx of storks
or a conventicle of magpies
ascending to the level of privileged height
in a set of spindly boots with shiny tethers

in the vein of Cinderella
fragments of glass suspend the body, invisible
with perhaps a touch of silk, en pointe
in aid of a sylphic glide, elegant
were it not for the ulcers and bunions
the corns and calluses
the silicone heels and the missing toes

coo-coo, coo-coo
there's blood in the shoe