a pair of brown shoes

A Pair of Brown Shoes

I once slapped my brother across the face,
it hurt me more than him, the palm of
my right hand is still red.
You see, we lived in a small flat- I had bought
a pair of shoes, they were un-walked in and shiny;
was going to put them on that Saturday evening
to impress my friends; but my brother beat me to it.
I was so furious I cried; “it is only a pair of shoes,”
my mother bleated in the background.
This was fifty years ago I now know the difference
of what is important and what is nothing to bother about,
but sod it all... he shouldn’t have taken my  fucking shoes