Artifacts

Sometimes in museums
There is so much more than art –
Remnants of somebody’s past
From when he got his start.

The famed Apollo Theater -
For performers, Harlem’s haven,
Is currently the focus
Of a show that’s got folks ravin’.

From Louis Armstrong’s trumpet
To Pearl Bailey’s wardrobe case,
The artifacts remind us
Of a certain time and place.

My daughter was delighted
To see Michael Jackson’s hat.
It made me think of Cooperstown
And seeing Mickey’s bat.

Of all the items, there was one
That set my thoughts to muse:
A beat-up pair of Sammy Davis Junior’s
Tap-dance shoes.

He’d worn them as a little child,
A boy eight years of age.
When most kids did their homework,
He was hoofing on the stage.

I wasn’t born when he was young.
I knew him as a man;
Yet there was proof of who he was
When his career began.

He’s gone so many years by now
But still his shoes survive.
Museums do their part
To keep the memory alive.