The Dream

I awoke nervously from a dream

I tried to remember the details of that dream

Which had left such a strong and intense impression

In that dream I was no longer retired

But on my way to my old office

Waiting at the bus stop for my usual bus

It soon arrived and I duly boarded

Expecting the usual half hour ride

Via familiar streets and landmarks

But the view from my upstairs window

Was wholly strange and different

The bus was proceeding through

Unfamiliar roads and passing

Unfamiliar buildings and landmarks

Thinking I had got on the wrong bus

I rang the bell for the bus to stop

I jumped off and checked the bus’s route number

It displayed my usual route number and destination

This was weird and unaccountable

I decided to somehow find my way to my office

I had an important meeting to attend

I wandered around the streets for a while

Hoping to find a familiar landmark

At last, I happened upon a recognised building

It was my local bank which luckily 

Was only a few minutes’ walk from my office

I made my way there on foot but this time

The route was now comfortingly familiar

Entering the office building I did not

Recognise the usual receptionist

It was not Gloria who invariably would offer

A friendly greeting but instead a new face

Perhaps Gloria was away replaced by an agency temp

I took the lift to the eighth floor where the

Conference room was located

The lift stopped at the fourth floor and a man entered

He was someone I recognised from Accounts

But I thought he had died some years ago

On leaving the lift I walked along the corridor

Passing staff that I recognised but again

Thought had either left the company or were sadly dead

I entered the room that had always been the Conference room

But it was not – It was a typing pool

Where twenty typists sat with headphones

Hitting keys on manual typewriters

I was then approached by a security official

Who asked to see my ID

Which I did not have

I was escorted off the premises 

I stood bewildered on the pavement outside

Pondering the veracity of the situation

I then woke up and it took me a while

To separate the dream experience from reality

I questioned what fuels the semi-conscious mind

To invent such half related truths

Had I travelled back in time?

And was the dream experience similar to how we

Exist in death when only the mind or soul survive

To experience events which need no corporal body

Some strive to interpret reasons for our dreams

But this one lingered long and I could find no explanation