I was on a trip somewhere,
perhaps nowhere, and a guy,
whom I had seen only a time
or two since he stood up for
me at my wedding forty-eight
years ago, sat at the opposite
end of the bar in a town some-
where or perhaps nowhere on the
trip. He saw me and I acknow-
ledged him with a wave and a
smile, but he didn’t make a move
in my direction. I got up and
then he came over. An old friend
from junior college stood in line
with me and many others including
the groomsman waiting to get
on the plane to somewhere, or
perhaps nowhere, at least I don’t
know where and I continued not
to know where I was when I awoke
and went to the bathroom. Back
in bed and asleep I saw both
of them again with a few others,
but they stood out. It was in a
really dirty, primitive bathroom
in the airport and I didn’t want
to stay there for very long before
we boarded to somewhere, perhaps
nowhere, although in previous dreams,
I actually arrived somewhere wait-
ing for my wife to pick me up.
I sat on the side of the bed
about to get up to take out
the Chocolate Lab and realized
I just had gotten a Christmas card
from the family of the junior
college guy but even after the
walk with the dog I still couldn’t
figure out why the groomsman sat
at the bar and didn’t acknowledge
my presence not to mention his
presence in the dream at all.
He simply wasn’t one of the usual
cast members. And why was he
wearing that suit in a dive
bar? Two nights later I
remembered that the suit was
the one he wore in the wedding.
Then I thought I knew that the
plane was destined for nowhere
and that my wife and Chocolate
Lab would not have to meet me
at the terminal. I reached over
and put my arm around my
wife as the dog snored.