Barbie lost a shoe

I found it in a parking lot
dirty with grit
One tiny pink sneaker shabby from the settled dust
of countless cars
and passersby

I wonder how it got there, just the left one of a pair
without its mate

If she took them off to sun herself in the day’s warmth
how did she come to leave just one behind?
If it slipped off while she walked
how did she not notice her one bare foot padding the harsh pavement?

She must have dropped it
from bag or purse or overburdened arms
while carrying it from point to point
Else why would there be but one?

Is that how we lost each other
too
distracted by life’s hurry,
the demands of daily habit,
did we slip from each other’s arms unaware
only to reach some destination
and find ourselves stranded, alone?