Commuting in Dreams

Why are my stress dreams

about public transportation

when in waking life I drive everywhere

pining for a train commute?

It’s always the same. On the bus

not knowing where I’m headed,

lost in a neighborhood maze

in a city I know by heart, or rifling

through and losing track of myriad

belongings for exact-change fare.

Thing is, I’ve never dreamed

of bill collectors, or war and occupation.

You know, the pervasive themes

that actually stress a person out.

But for a day of riding the train,

or even a city bus, reading a good book,

scribbling down notes as ideas come.

That would be a dream.

This is #5 of 30 Poems in November to benefit Center for New Americans.