The Nightmare

"on reading Primo Levi's Reveille, and thinking of the 1973 movie Massacre in Rome"

By chance, an accidental pairing

of nightmares, we shared a dream

of gargantuan proportions:

a black hole opening onto a black

pit of emptying despair,

standing in a line of men not

chosen as one of the ones

to be spared the necessity of

having to go on

with the living.

Sadly, it was only when I awoke

I discovered my nightmare

was not at all similar to your dark night's despair:

you, sadly it seems, were not dreaming,

that nightmare was in fact

your reality.

Ken e Bujold

© 2022

Reviews

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

I'm reminded of the great writer Elie Wiesel and his horrifying account of the holocaust in his powerful story Night. I read his book back in 1982 which changed me and made me become more aware of the world around me. The nightmares he endured as a survivor had such a profound affect on me. It was the first time I ever cried reading a story. I was deeply effected by the message of his book and the humanity his words defined. They have a lasting resonance that still speak loudly with clarity into these days we currently live in. To never be silent in the face of hate, for to do so is to accept and be complicit in its actions after. CLE

[Ken e Bujold]

I also remember reading Night around the same time, and it having the exact same effect on my own sense of what it meant to be on the path of angels.

[Chris Shaw]

That was indeed a nightmare. Standing in a line of those not to be spared. I can imagine the horror of having to face that situation, knowing you are about to be snuffed out. I don't know your reading, but my imagination carried me to many violent places. A strong write Ken. Too much cheese eating before bed, my mum used to say :) Sits heavy on the chest and causes mares.

Chris

[Ken e Bujold]

nightmares come in many forms Chris. end of life is definitely one, but another is ending a life. I have always been fascinated by Burton's character in the movie. Composing a list of names was certainly a nightmare of a kind. Levi's survival of holocaust, a nightmare we all know. where does my narrator's rank in comparison? to history, not at all, but to the narrator having the nightmare, at the moment of happening quite high. Really what I was aiming for here was the sense of differing perspectives

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Ken for the additional notes behind your thinking. Much appreciated.

[andrew mitchell]

Great work. Great subject. Great read.

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks for kind words Andrew

[softlyfall]

First I read this and thought that two people shared one nightmare but one was in sleep and one was in reality and assumed it meant that one of them had died in the night. Then I realized that death is no nightmare at all, it is a door.
So I read it again.
In reading the other reviews I considered the holocaust as the nightmare and suddenly one of them was wrest away in the night to the camps. But that isn't right either is it?
Am I over-thinking this?
Oh and thank you for the great mystery and chance to ponder, by the way.

[Ken e Bujold]

no thinking is good Soft, and you are on the right path. For me it is as simple as my comment above the poem suggests. On reading Levi and also recalling the film Massacre in Rome, which was a true accounting of Nazi reprisals for the killing of an elite squad of SS, Hilter ordered an equal number of Italians be executed. Film is about the process of drafting the list of the condemned and then the slow ascent into the catacombs to be shot. The two thoughts converged in my mind, Levi the survivor of genocide, Richard Burton's character faced with the task of choosing who was to die. Both in their own way nightmares of a smiliar kind, but in the end so so different.

[softlyfall]

Oh wow, that is a heavy heavy analogy.

[John the Baptist]

As I recall, Levi was a Holocaust Survivor. I believe he eventually committed suicide. Some nightmares never end.

[Ken e Bujold]

he was John which is what put the thought in my head. then paired it with the movie which is a fav of mine, to have working hypoth to weave this work

[poetgurl]

nightmares are horrible, I hate nightmares.
wonderfully expressed thoughts.

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks SW, this a combination of reading Primo Levi and thinking of the Nazi reprisals in Rome, made into a great movie "Massacre in Rome"

[Coyote Poetry]

Dreams and reality can fall together Ken. They can become real life and I liked the tale in the poetry. I dream-write and I write them to paper. When the dreams are loco. We are missing something. Thank you for sharing the amazing poetry and your thoughts.
Coyote

[Ken e Bujold]

thank Coyote. dreams in their time are a reality

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome Ken.

[Neville]

Every now & then, I stumble across something that hammers home an otherwise certain reality & makes me see clearly just how fortunate I am in the great scheme of things .. My coming here today & considering your words, is such an occasion sir .............. Neville

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks neville, reality and dreams a potent cocktail

[Robert Haigh]

Yes, nightmares can be disturbing and truly frightening, but they are nothing compared to the living nightmares that some people have to endure! An evocative poetic piece!

[Ken e Bujold]

thank you for the kind words Rob