Dreams 2022

Dream 9
(1/9/2022)

I follow
my ex-wife
up a winding
mountain
trail

there
is snow
on either
side

ahead
is another
hiker
on some sort
of modified skis

short

wide

strange
contraptions

the young woman
seems to be having
trouble
with them

she steps
to the side
to make adjustments

we pass
her by

my ex
says
that the footing
doesn’t feel
right

the girl
behind us
is now
advancing again

gaining
rapidly

I tell
my ex
to pick up
the pace

all of
the sudden
the left side
opens
to steep
wet cliffs

sloping
down
to a raging
river
cutting through
the rock

no bank
on either
side

my ex begins
to slide

I reach
for her
but she is
already
well beyond
my grasp

the hiker
behind me
says

“it’s
too late”

my ex crashes
down
into the water

her body
rushing
quickly away
deep
beneath
the clear
churning
surface

the woman
grabs my arm
as I lean
looking

~

I am climbing
on a steep
cliff

not so much
rock
but possibly
sandstone
of some
sort

no snow
now

warm

sunny

summer
maybe

even though
I am almost
vertical
I have
no trouble
getting a firm
grip

I am advancing
toward
a small meadow

I hear
someone
behind me

“there
she is!”

a middle-aged
overweight woman
whom I don’t
recognize
climbs
easily
around me

she attains
the horizontal
surface

advances
toward
to a medium-sized
female dog

lying
on her side

breathing
heavily

apparently
injured

as the woman
attends
to the suffering
animal

I look
down
the mountain

thinking
of my
ex-wife