Vans

in the backyard for weeks
covered in mud
the result of my son’s nocturnal roaming
thru the back bay mud

It was irritating
a good pair of regulation
size 10's
Vans
going to waste

I had worn out
many pairs
over the years

The blue suede ones
in high school
as much as a uniform
as the red ones were that
I wore busing tables at the Cannery restaurant
my senior summer
(I had long hair and had to wear a wig
that's another post)

I wouldn't
let
these shoes go to waste

First I soaked them
in a bucket
for days

but

they would never be
snow white again

I am a sloppy
coffee drinker
and I know
it stains
good

so
DIY
I used a half pound
of the weird espresso
to stain them
a nice
mocha

after a week in the bucket
no change!

They were
the shoes
that wouldn’t
DYE

RIP James Van Doren co founder of the Van Doren rubber company.