Rifke Galin: One Pair Of Shoes

One Pair of Shoes
by Rifke Galin

The wind wails, it’s cold and wet.
And I can’t go out today:
My little sister and I –
we both share one pair of shoes.

Today my little sister hid
the shoes someplace, I don’t know where,
then she started teasing me –
So I caught her and hit her.

But I don’t know what came over me –
Suddenly I began to see
how pale and thin my little sister is…
and then my anger left me.

Something seized me in my heart,
It made me so ashamed,
that in those two minutes
I became so very good.

“If you want I say put on the shoes,
and take them for yourself always,
for I am strong and can insist,
and I love going barefoot anyway.”

She looks at me and does not stir.
I see she doesn’t believe a word.
Then I go closer to the bed
and softly pat her little head.

And once more I repeat
But this time with kinder voice:
you want the shoes, take them they’re yours
and wear them every day, your choice.

“For I am strong and can insist
and love going barefoot anyway”
There was much more I had to say
but tears were choking in my throat.