The Strait-laced Soldier's Lament

The shoes of the period where shoes are formed on "Straight Last" meaning there will be no left or right when new.  They are designed to be worn with genuine shoe buckles, not the tie-on imitations.  There were both straight last and left/right or “crooked” colonial shoes. The straight last is more correct for the ordinary persona of the Colonial period, but the crooked last is more comfortable. After being worn a few times, a straight lasted shoe soon molds itself to your foot.  A myth was to never swap shoes and is but a faint foundation in history

The Strait-laced Soldier's Lament

 A continental soldier, brave and bold,

Had shoes that were neither left nor right, I'm told.

Straight lasted, they were, for both his feet,

A revolutionary fashion, oh so neat!

 

He marched all day in his ambidextrous boots,

With genuine buckles, not imitation substitutes.

"Don't swap your shoes!" the sergeant would yell,

A myth that made our soldier's toes rebel.

 

His right foot cried, "I want to be left!"

His left foot sighed, "Of comfort, I'm bereft!"

But soon enough, they molded to his soles,

Though marching still took its tolls.

 

He dreamed of crooked shoes, so comfy and fine,

But straight lasts were all the continental line.

In battles fierce, he'd fight with might,

While his feet couldn't tell their left from right!

 

So next time you see a colonial feat,

Remember the shoes that confused their feet.

For in revolution, they took a stand,

With footwear as straight as the new-born land!

This poem is an excerpt from my chapbook "Revolutionary Verse", a free download, or if you prefer a printed copy, buy direct, click here.