Glimpse

I had the worst dream

I ever thought I could have,

when I was seven:

I killed my mother.                     Indirectly.

 

We were staying in a castle

with a more sinister version

of the Addams family.

Morticia’s doppelganger

was in the shower

and when my mum

yelled at me for talking to her,

Morticia struck mum dead;        

on the toilet.

 

I ran to her and her eyes

were melted into a horror

of white and red fluid,

kind of like the inside

of a Cadbury’s crème egg.

 

There was more to it

but being responsible

for the death

of a resenting parent

was what made it                     

 

a nightmare.

 

Last year I dreamt

that my family took it

upon themselves to kill

and cannabalise my girlfriend -

 

and that I joined in, knocking

her unconscious

and tearing strips

of flesh from her body.

 

Then I called the police.

 

I woke up a gibberish mess,

crying out of control

and had to be consoled by

the girl I had just helped murder;

touching her all over

to ensure there were no bones

exposed by our atrocities.                      

 

It’s funny.

 

I’ve died more than any other

character in my sleep,

yet don’t class them

as nightmares.

 

Reviews

[F. Nazarov]

Wow.
Every time someone dies in my dreams/nightmares
I wake up scared and crying, but when it's just me either
I gave my life for someone, or it's just not a big deal when I wake up.
Maybe it shows how you care for others more than yourself...
Dreams and nightmares are an interesting bunch.
This piece was so interesting because of how you talked about
your nightmares and how you described them. :D
People have all these crazy things floating around in their subconscious ^_^

[Damien Dsoul]

I recall listening to Pearl Jam's classic song 'Alive', about how the verses tend to take me away every time I recall the lines. Your poem here shares almost the same feeling with how straight-forward and dark and yet how enveloping it is. The imagery is arresting.

[Emily B]

there was an article about REM sleep and nightmare links yesterday on yahoo . . . you should read it. :)