The Universe Dreamed I: 16th September 2023

The Universe dreamed I’d come to its restaurant. I needed to pass the time before my train home. The restaurant bustled with galaxies intending to dine together. It felt only fair then that I give up my table for four. The Universe found me a table for one instead.

My table for one, it turned out, had been adjoined to a table for twelve. A group of galaxies sat at the table celebrating something, so I got up, left them to it.

Around the corner of the L-shaped restaurant, out of sight of the other diners, the Universe pointed to a hole in the wall. Ducking down, it led me into a small room where the old kitchen and bathroom had been located simultaneously.

‘You can eat in here,’ the Universe said, gesturing to an old stove-come-bathroom counter which would repurpose as a table.

I sat on an old oak bench at my makeshift table and the Universe handed me the menu. By this point, I’d missed my last train home.

horses for courses—
a mustard jar
divides the table

R.C. Thomas resides in Plymouth, UK. His collection, The Strangest Thankyou (2012), and pamphlet, Zygote Poems (2015), were published by Cultured Llama. His collection of haiku, Faunistics, was published in January 2024.  Website: https://rcthomasthings