Awoke this morning from a bizarre nightmare
That left me shaking, gagging and gasping for air
Back in the office, that I’d long ago left behind
With an old boss whom I’d once thought kind
I was too nice, too soft, she’d very often say
And not ever in any complimentary way
Had to sort through a rack of cast-off clothes
Slinky tee shirts of shiny polyester I chose
Covered in a myriad of designs all so artful
Cringing to touch I soon had quite an armful.

Then halfway through I now needed to find home
A path led away from the sand and ocean foam
Was detoured, again, it turned into such a trial
With uneven steps, hurdles, an elliptical turnstile
Pushed along with the crowd was very much flagging
Having to keep up with my gammy left leg dragging
People pushing from both in front and from behind
None took pity on me nor were in the least bit kind.

Up steps that lead away through a sunny pleasant park
‘Neath Norfolk pines in whose shade it was deep dark
Once we took a side path that left then it right wended
Before it’d begun was forced back to where it’d ended
In an empty café that was no bigger than a cupboard
Like it had once belonged to that old Mother Hubbard

Squeezing sideways through a narrow brick side path
Struggled on regardless, up a tortuous footpath
Too many folks were coming down the opposite way
Next moment, my mouth was suddenly full of red clay
Finding it harder and harder to simply breathe
When through a Persian market bazaar, I had to squeeze
Bumped off the path by a rude man on a mobile phone
He had doused himself in an ‘orrible eau d’cologne
Crawled over brick walls that beneath me crumbled
For lack of any mortar, they were all a jumbled.

Diverted from the uphill path as it was snowing
Forced left into a suburb, was lost and unknowing
Not on the top of the hill, but the bottom now based
Plus the other side of the harbour I now faced
Near a grassy shore, with folks swimming off a raft
A green navy boat bobbing amid small pleasure craft
From a bandstand wafted a cacophony of tunes
The path home led away back over the sand dunes
The very one I had only just ascended / descended
Then suddenly the horrible nightmare was ended.

I awoke with a start and a shudder despairing
A crick in my neck, eyes wide open and staring
Took more than a while for my heart and my breath
To return to normal beating, when realised I’d left
The herculean task still left mostly uncompleted
Water splashed on my face, not wishing it repeated
Another return to the scenes of that nightly drama
This was not what I’d imagined was my karma
Images now were indelibly impressed in a way
Difficult to expunge from the wide waking day,
Left with a patter song by Messrs Gilbert Sullivan
Running through my head like a repetitive news bulletin.