Dreams of the Trail
I begin to hike South, happy to be back on the trail
I get on a bus which is to shuttle me into town — a town I remember vividly
As we drive, I see Munchies sitting on the dock of a lake — it is sunset
On the bus, I see a large dog that I had lost some time earlier
But I was not me, I was someone else — a trail friend of mine
The dog’s name is Birch — he is seated at the front of the bus
The bus is full of other hikers, eager to get into town
When I enter at a door behind the dog, I call to him
He runs toward me and pushes me down the aisle in a loving embrace
We stop, I exit along with a female hiker and enter the hostel
As we enter, I realize that Birch is dead, and he was not my dog, but the girl’s
I open the door and ask her about Birch — where do we put him? what do we do with him?
She says we just keep moving along, there is nothing to do — he is the second dog she’s lost
We enter the hostel, and no one else from the bus follows — I don’t know where they went
I attempt to pay for me and the girl, but fumble with my payment, dropping it several times
I find myself sitting on a bed with her, but she has changed
She looks like the girl I love, but she is from the trail, and she speaks with a foreign accent
She lays me down and with her eyes she tells me it will never work
“You have a sole-less foot and a bony soul,” she tells me
Or was it a “soul-less foot, and a bony sole?” I won’t ever know
She is beautiful, with short, light hair and a slight German accent
But now she is gone, along with my dreams of the trail