Dressed for Dinner

I dreamed that I was barefoot
and everyone else was
dressed for dinner –
tuxedos, evening gowns, the works.

I stood, vulnerable and unsure,
while they stared.
Tonguetied, I had no defence,
and so I fled to wakefulness.

Wakeful now, I'll strive to see
the barefoot stranger
standing, uncertain in the hall.
I'll say, "Here's a chair. Sit with me."