End of the Dream

I went to sleep and I had a dream,

In the dream was a dream of you,

I didn’t know whether to wake or scream,

Or what I was going to do,

For in the dream was a stately home

That I’d seen some time before,

And you were lain in a pool of blood

On a Persian rug, on the floor.

 

I seem to have met you yesterday,

Perhaps we met in the dream,

I couldn’t remember yesterday

But I saw you there, it seems,

You walked toward me, caught my eye

I thought we were going to meet,

You turned and suddenly walked away

Before I had time to speak.

 

A shadow had come between us two

In the dream about the dream,

A man in a raincoat, scowling too

As he stood there, in between,

‘Leave her alone, she’s not for you,

You’d better be going home.’

I said, ‘Get out of my dream, you fool,

This dream is mine alone!’

 

I followed you into the stately home

As you drifted across the floor,

You seemed to float on a cloud of foam

And left through the further door,

It opened out to a sunlit beach

Where the man in the raincoat stood,

You said, ‘I wish you had come before

When the way of the world was good.’

 

The man in the raincoat pulled a gun

And chased us back through the door,

He fired a shot and you fell right there

On the Persian rug on the floor,

I helped you up and we walked away

As the man began to scream,

I said, ‘You’re not going to harm her now,

You’re just a dream in a dream!’

 

I woke today to an empty bed

And I saw you lying there,

The gun on the pillow, by my head

And the police were everywhere,

You lay so still on the Persian rug

That I felt a sudden chill,

I said, ‘the man in the raincoat came,

I thought that it wasn’t real!’

 

I seem to be caught in a nightmare

They have locked me into a cell,

I’m trying to shake myself awake

From a dream that was made in hell,

This nightmare’s just a dream in a dream

And I know that when I wake,

We’ll walk together along that beach

And we’ll watch the breakers break.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Mark]

Rather more macabre than your usual...I LOVE it! What, after all, IS poetry, other than delving into the depths of our minds, and displaying what we may find there (hopefully in an attractive and approachable manner!)? Of that, you are the undisputed master...but I'm repeating myself!

[roarke]

wow, now that's a dream? nightmare you mean... I'm glad when I encounter a particularly bad dream, I can wake myself up. Chilling write David.

[Tarry Franck]

I really love this one - your poems always flow so easily - a great piece - a dream in a dream - haven't we had them all but what a twist on this one - loved it. Thanks for sharing

[JM Russell]

Just a bit different but I really like it.

[cynthiabuhainbaello]

Remarkable theme of a dream within a dream, and the weird circumstances that drifted dream to reality and vice versa. The poem excellently grasps reader's curiosity and all the lines drift smoothly into the dreamy scenes, painting poetic images of the place and the characters, and all of these do not disappoint but hold the interest in suspense. The ending is also full of impact where the dreamer ends in a cell for the dream "crime".

[Patricia B. Hepler]

Chilling horror, dreamt. Exceptional write, sir.

[Sheila Kline]

Very intriguing! The idea of being in a dream within a dream creates an intense visual memory!

[Adam Lebzo -RonninWarri..]

Typical gothic black romance!
LOVED IT!

[Jack Cassidy]

I like the dark imagery.... it does tend to be rather murky the further we delve down into our subconscious minds. Sweet read...

[Dennis A. Clark]

"In the dream was a dream of you"

A dream within a dream? Very Poe.

[Baby Ricochet]

Hear Hear!!