Footprints
Footprints was initiated as a way to reclaim my english wordplay while living in Spain and Germany between 1985-1991. Learning to speak both of those languages at the same time left my english languishing. This evolved from the first three lines and took shape over the next 10 years. Like the slow story life is, this is an ode to our journey of living and learning what it means to make an impression in the world. - Mark
footprints follow us around
as we all leave our mark
in the air, sea and ground
footprints is a story
about leaving impressions
how everyone
leaves an impression,
a footprint
ducks make footprints
dogs make footprints
you leave a footprint
I leave a footprint
we make footprints
in the soft snow
we make footprints
in the shifting sands
we make footprints
after the water puddle
we have jumped into
look, my footprint
is bigger than your footprint
some footprints
stay longer than others,
for example fossils
fossils are really old footprints
some footprints won’t last so long
like the footprints
we made in the sand at the beach
that the waves washed away
with each new baby
begins a new set of footprints
our family leaves a lot of footprints
and a lot of families
leave a bunch of footprints
like a city,
civilization
that’s what culture is
a whole bunch of footprints
and different cultures
have different religions
which are footprints
of different beliefs
there are those
who forge the path of footprints
that lead to wisdom
and those who seek their trails
footprints tell us
where we come from,
and the direction
in which we are going
there are people who read footprints
like trackers,
and detectives
there are some people
who chase after footprints
of creatures they’ve never seen
and aren’t even sure exist
footprints show us
how far we’ve gone
like the footprints on the moon
meteors leave footprints,
we call them craters
and the stars leave footprints,
trails of light
that tell us the story of the universe
footprints is a story
of looking, seeking,
going someplace,
finding something,
exploring and learning
footprints is the story
of the impression
that we make
on that journey
the letters in this story
are like footprints
words are like footprints
the printed message
is a footprint,
a memory
we keep our memories walking
with stories, photos, movies
and bits and bytes
while the stroke of a brush
paints a trail to behold
or how about music notes
dancing on the page,
running in your ears
language is a lot of footprints,
a map
to help us understand
each other
footprints are like clues
atoms leave footprints
DNA is a footprint
with much to say
the seed of a tree
is a footprint to be
dinosaurs left footprints
glaciers leave footprints
there are natural footprints,
for example after the passing
of a hurricane
or the river of lava
creeping from volcanoes
and not so natural footprints,
like the destruction
we cause to the forests
or our trails of trash,
and oil spills in the ocean,
or the hole in the ozone
footprints are impressions,
or marks, or dents,
or even scars
some scars
take longer to heal
than others
footprints can come
when we tread too heavy
with fighting
and wars
and we have to tread lightly
over old landmines
and hatreds
sometimes
we don’t realize
we are leaving footprints
like germs that get spread
or diseases that wander the world
hopping from thing to thing
and sometimes
we try to cover up
our footprints
like buried waste
out of site out of mind
and sometimes
when we look back
to try to read the footprints
its not very clear
where we have come from
history is a trail of footprints
and we all leave our footprints
on that trail
all the while leaving impressions
in the hearts and minds of others
and when the trail of footprints
comes to an end
we wonder
where did they go
making footprints
can be like
thinking of an idea
or like telling this story
which is just my impression
of what footprints
means to me.
Footprints is dedicated to our daughters Zoë and Sofia who have already left an indelible impression upon my heart, and to my mother Betsy and my father Gary whose footprints have wandered into the great unknown. And to Deborah who rambles on with me.
The Eleprocon Chronicles
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