The Shoes My Mother Hated, in Fairness, Were Ugly by Ariana Brown - Poems | Academy of American Poets

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& covered in smudges & peeling suede & sparked arguments

The Shoes My Mother Hated, in Fairness, Were Ugly Add to anthology × Load audio player Ariana Brown & covered in smudges & peeling suede & sparked arguments every time I wore them out of the house. Yes, I wanted to wear those shoes, the ones that looked like we couldn’t afford anything better. I’d been practicing to clownwalk / glide / modeled my body’s movement after Usher & slid on concrete smoother than slicing an avocado’s flesh. I wanted to say: I don’t need beauty. The first time I believed in sorcery was when I saw Jesse windmill his six-foot-two body into a freeze, lifting his lo

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The Shoes My Mother Hated, in Fairness, Were Ugly by Ariana Brown - Poems | Academy of American Poets

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