Transient

 I dreamt I was a transient last night

just someone, anyone, maybe everyone

that set off on this path 

in the woods, hanging onto the trees

as I passed by their sculpted trunks

I wasn't alone, for there were others

on the very same path

though it was wide and varied

with everyone walking at their own pace

and suddenly the path ended

came to a halt in the middle of a store

where the clerk looked at me

from behind the counter, puzzled

asking if he could help me

I told him I was on this trail

and just wondered where it began, again

but he looked again at me, puzzled

then left through a door behind him

I looked at the shelves, at the food

acting as though I was anyone else

and then the clerk was at my side

asking if he could help, as if I needed it

as if I had nothing and served no purpose

in the store he tended to

but it was the store that had no purpose

I needed nothing there, no food, no help

I just needed my trail, the one I had been on

the one everyone else was on

going at their own pace

that clerk acted as though I was just a transient

with nothing to my name

just a transient traveling through

and then I woke up 

and realized it was true