2005年NPR美国国家公共电台四月-A Daily Ritual: 'Prayers Like Shoes'

（单词翻译）

Now, Poet Ruth Forman lets us into part of her daily spiritual practice with her poem, "I Wear Prayers Like Shoes."

Now, Poet Ruth Forman lets us into part of her daily spiritual practice with her poem, "I Wear Prayers Like Shoes."

I wear prayers like shoes.
Pull them on quiet each morning to take me through the uncertain day.
Don't know what might knock me off course.
Sit up in bed, pull on the right, then the left,
before shower, before teeth.
They were my mama's gift to walk me through this life.
She wore strong ones, the kind steady your ankles I know
'cause when her man left, her children gone, her eldest¹ son without goodbye.
They're the only ones keep her standing².
I saw her, still standing.
Mama passed on some things to me: my smile, sense of discipline, my subtle³ behind.
But best she passed on:
"Girl, you go to God and get you some good shoes",
'cause this life ain't steady ground.
Now I don't wear hers. You take them with you, you know,
but I suspect they're made by the same company.
Pull them on each morning, first the right, then the left.
Best piece of dress I got.

Poet Ruth Forman is the author of the collection Renaissance⁴. She lives in Los Angeles.