hearing the word “chukka” with boot stood out
the pale tan lawn shoes stayed in the garage when not worn
if he was in the golden black and white tv western
they’d be moccasins
in the newly settled suburb
with a far off hiss OM of the highway
they were his chukka boots likely from GOLD CIRCLE
they canvassed his garden lawn with wheels
decompressing on the lined up rows of the previous indentations
gotta line up the grass row
high and tight
he’d sit on the white wire patio chair on the green astro turf inside his breezeway
breezeway another word
chukka boot breezeway
laced up for the world outside the golden linoleum and brown comfort carpet
resonated with thoughtful dim lamps in the first settled suburban home
white siding
black trim
like the LIFE and LOOK magazines
the chukka boots guided the lawn mower on the always damp high and tight grass
walking on it like a tracker in moccasins on the westerns that played on TV
in the golden linoleum and brown comfort carpet
the chukka boots had more use and wear than a briefcase i can’t remember
or the ties i inherited
they were his moccasins connected to his stone encased lawn garden
stones he wheelbarrowed himself
back and forth on the damp green just beyond the breezeway
the lawn retreat outside the newly settled
suburban castle
and now in my own
ordered online
delivered in a box
My CLARKS chukka boots were the lineage of the moccasin TV western to damp green geometric angles lining up
the high and tight mind
my chukka boots had been buried
in a multi-generational era bound basement
in a suburb that was settled so long ago it’s called a village
the chukka boots dried and crusty with remnants of caked kitty litter
long forgotten
barely worn
never used
and put aside for kicks, sneakers, running shoes
and DUNKS
the basement can gobble up our feet seeking the correct moccasin
i found the brown polish
the white mink oil
the buffer
the rag
the brush
and tenderly cleaned and restored
recalling what it is to have proper lines
wheels in their previous stripes on the damp green lawn
chukka boot breezeway to the moccasin TV western
black and white
high and tight
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