Why Are Shoes Tossed Over Powerlines?

The Meaning of Art

What is the meaning of shoes dangling from a power line?

We have all seen them, shoes with their laces tied together and tossed over a power line; what does it mean? Here are several possibilities to consider-

1. Kids do it for a prank simply because they have witnessed others do it.
2. It is an act of bullying. Kids take another persons shoes and then just for fun toss them over a line making the victim walk home in their socks.
3. It is an act of celebration, like a graduation.
4. It is an artistic expression of freedom
5. It is a symbol for a prime drug dealing location.
6. It is a gang symbol identifying turf.
7. It is done to honor someone who lost their life through street violence.

I think the ultimate answer may have to do with location, where is it happening. If it happens on a college campus perhaps it is celebration; on an urban street corner perhaps drugs; in a suburban area perhaps bullying. Bottom line I am not sure anyone can give an answer with certainty and that perhaps all of these explanations are true. If you have any expertise in this area I would love to hear your opinion.

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About the poem-

I wrote this poem about one year ago when I was thinking about the possible meanings of shoe tossing. It is simply a story about one possible explanation.

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The Language of Shoes

It was a curiosity for most,
for others an omen, like war or rumors
of war, the moon turning red,
gangs claiming turf,
a place to buy drugs.

When the neighborhood died,
Father outlined the steps- a liquor store,
a pawn shop, the boarded up buildings,
houses burned to the ground, and now
orphaned shoes dangling like stoplights
from an overhead wire.

Mother cries for her brother, killed
in the war, her father nails his boots
to the barn. Mother compares this
to that. It's a memorial
for somebody’s child
killed without reason.

I am quiet because I know
it is more about art and expressing
a moment, like a poet writing a question
that hangs in the air,
a statement of freedom.