Bar Fight

By David Geiger, August 17, 2023

I am in this world,

in this time,

in this place,

In this reality.

I am in a bar,

wishing I were not,

but I was,

and so was this guy,

who kept it up,

non-stop:

pushing me,

poking me,

asking me,

who the fuck are you,

who the fuck are you?

He was good a provoking,

i am an expert at avoiding,

but he just went too far,

for me,

on that day,

i could take no more.

Possibly,

for the first time,

ever,

i let go,

jumped at him,

swung my arms at him,

kicked him,

kneed him,

pushed him,

pulled him,

forcefully to the ground.

I damaged him,

there was no doubt,

he damaged me too.

When I woke up,

on my back,

on the floor,

eyes just slivers,

light peeking in,

smells of beer,

blood, and sweat,

the room still full of anger,

details hazy,

sanity questioned,

lights flashing,

rapid movement,

around me,

my legs in the air,

my face, arms,

and one knee,

in pain;

and there is blood.

From the floor,

my legs extend upwards,

leaning,

against the side of a bed,

i am looking up,

i see my wife’s face,

As she looks over the edge of the bed.

“Are you ok dear?”

At that moment,

sirens went off in my head,

I realized I was dreaming again,

back into the nightmare

of my real life.

The lamp and shade were on the floor,

all busted up,

the side table was damaged,

almost overturned,

and my wife had this eerie

look of concern,

and again:

“Honey, you’re bleeding!

What the hell was that?”

It’s just my imaginary wife,

in this imaginary house,

from my dream world.

I scream,

with all my strength,

“I am real and you are not”

and that

pretty much resolved it,

for both of us.

DAVID GEIGER

(c) davidgeiger 2023

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