Last Night’s Dream

It was my birthday and I was far from home
but not alone
& I’d invited all of my friends up
to my house on the outside of town
but I was working late at the tobacconist
held up by a trio of bickering brothers
all locals, tanned, lean,
hair similarly cropped

I didn’t speak their language well
or I felt they weren’t telling me the whole truth
either way
I was straining to make peace
& staying later than I’d expected

My friends were dropping by on the way up
surprised to still see me working
I told them to go ahead
make some drinks
I’d be along shortly

I continued to try and appease the brothers
listening intently
my arms crossed, my neck outstretched
& some of the guests were back in town
checking in on their way to the liquor store

They talked to me as if they couldn’t see
the three brothers at all
& I was trying to reassure them
to not fret
enjoy themselves
all the while my mind preoccupied
by what small details I could be missing
with my attention pulled from the boys

My friends were gone & back again
just as fast
only drunker
pouring themselves into the shop
& pulling me out by the arms
despite my polite protest
the trio appeared increasingly more frustrated

I got frustrated too
& sent everyone out
the partiers back to the party
the brothers back to the wilderness
nothing resolved

I locked up shop
& began to head up the road
along the docks
back home to a lit & loud house
& the night was darker & cooler
than I would’ve thought
I walked down to the water

A brown skin girl was there
bare from the waist up
gathering water
I surprised her
but she didn’t feel threatened or ashamed
or like she’d been caught
she walked over to me
& she was plain but pretty

Holding me,
I wept against her bare thick breasts
I wept lustlessly in the moonlight over the pier
I was dry save the sweat
despite the waves lapping at the shore