Painted Carboard Shoes

To her it was just any other Sunday
Nothing special, nothing new
She was just going through the motions
Until she looked up from her pew

A guest speaker went up to the pulpit
“Thank you so much for having me here
It’s a pleasure to be standing where I am
In a on fire church”, she said so sincere

Her skin was the color of dark chocolate
She wore a suit, layered white and red
She looked so comfortable on the platform
As she looked out straight ahead

“I’m not sure where to start with my story
This is the first church I’ve spoken to for awhile
I’ll just say for one, I was born into a run down shack
Not your average childhood lifestyle”

Ma had eleven mouths to feed
New toys and clothes were always a treat
No matter how hard she worked for us
We hardly ever made ends meet

We had to rummage for our own shoes
Mine were made of a cardboard box and duct tape
Whenever I’d go into the alley for something
One of the dirty brown men would say “Are you up for rape?”

They didn't stay clean for long
Walking through the filthy street
But I found a way to fix that
With a little paint and concrete

I’d mix the paint and concrete together
To give the cardboard a bit of color
It was hard to walk on but allowed nothing to poke through
And passed that idea onto my sisters and brothers

The years went by and we grew up
Some of us didn't do so well
But I made a promise to myself
I did not want to live through hell

I found some classes that taught me to read and write
Finally figured out what’s four times four
Ended up putting myself through school
And found me a house that had chestnut doors

I got a good job, found a great man
Both of which have been good to me
Gone are my days of trying to survive in the slums
And I have real shoes now, you see”

We all grabbed tissues from the ushers
Every man held back tears, every woman’s mascara ran
“So don’t doubt yourself, those who struggle financially
Always believe in the “I can”

Oh church of God please listen
Don’t doubt your days that could be better
You could end up like me
And go from cardboard shoes to leather