Headless and Homeless

I dreamt last night, that I had returned to New York after a long period away. I was trying to get to a place that I'd been to before, some place uptown on the west side, but got lost because the subway systems and such had changed so much. Frustrated by my ignorance and overwhelmed by the crowds, I staggered down a hall that led out of the subway station and slumped against a wall, trying to regain my equilibrium. I was slumped across from the open door of a liquor store - some of the underground subway caverns boast businesses. Through the open door I saw a person - a man, I think - walking, so to speak, around the store buying booze. He was homeless from the way he was dressed, and one leg was missing from the knee down. But he didn't have crutches or a prosthetic or anything. So when he limped, he had to bend a long way to accomodate the missing limb. And his head was wrapped with a bandage. From the shape of the bandage, it looked as if half his head - from his lower jaw up - was missing. I wondered how it was that he could see much less think with the entire upper portion of his head completely gone. But that's only what it looked like, remember, because he was wrapped with a decrepit bandage. I could still see, however, part of his jaw, the part that sloped into his neck.

The man bought his bottle of something - big and expensive it looked - and walked out of the store. Once outside, another man who'd been waiting for him, put his arm around him and helped him walk deeper into the subway station. From the back, I could see stains of puss seeping through his pants. His clothes and bandages were obviously covering some serious disease or wounding. And after they'd walked a couple steps, I heard him groan. It was short and quiet, but it carried about a hundred pounds of weary in it. The image was so disturbing that it woke me up. It was about 20 minutes before my alarm was set to go off.

I have no idea what my subconscious is trying to tell me, but I suspect it's nothing good. Can you hear me laughing maniacally?