I am lost

In a swirling world of labels and musky odors

The loud voices of too many shoppers

In a maze of groceries and beeping cash registers

A miniature city of commercialism.

My glazed eyes take in these familiar sights

Of a strange world.

Dimly I hear a greeting murmured

Look up reflexively,

The automatic smile clicking into place

As polite platitudes pass my lips

Involuntarily.

“Do you like..”

My ears cease to hear

As horrifying realization grips me:

The speaker is a stranger.

Stupid me,

Lost in my mind again.

How I could I have thought

That I would be greeted by

Her smile

As though I were yet a child?

I am lost in this strange world of strangers

This dizzying kaleidoscope of advertisements

Smells,

Grating noise.

Here,

Past and reality

Insanity and actuality,

Blend together,

Turn the gray linoleum to swirling paints

Underneath my feet

I fall,

But there is nowhere to land;

Nothing solid to catch me,

Save me.