Walking past my past-self

 I walked past myself on the way to the dairy.
pick up somethings because night would be quick.
Cold afternoons breeze sharp and uncomfortable.
The elm on the corner yellow but it wasn't autumn.

I sought signs in my surroundings.
Like I had been here before.
This life I had absorbed into.
This body I was looking out of.

What I was supposed to be.
What I was supposed to do.
I walked past all that too.
Left it on the footpath.

Walked in the bell chimed.
Went straight to each item without thinking.
The man behind the counter was polite.
The exchange was short almost pleasant.

Out I went looking down at the ground outside the dairy.
The concrete so well stepped on, smoothed over even.
I walked past myself leaning against the wall of the shop.
Smoking a cigarette and pretending not to care, pretending...