I had a Dream (Twelfth Night)

I had a dream
a noxious impression

of anxious descent

to chthonic sepulcher

I don't know why

 

the walls were narrow

growing more

confined with each ominous step

I could never turn back

I don’t know why

 

dreams imprison us

to a singular purpose

never constrained

with reason

so I could only

descend to

darkness that set

my soul a quivering

with every muffled

footfall

my hands trailed those

sandstone walls

of regret

fear

self-loathing

enigmatic qualms

I will never understand

each once a single grain

something so small

yet together they were

immovable stone

which guided my every step

to a deeper grave

that could never be

denied

as if the walls

of the world itself

were governed by

cruel titans

held in Tartarus

the deepest

most defiant depths

which omniscient pantheons

could not comprehend

I followed those

benighted walls

forgotten by even that

which sought to destroy

the me

who was less than

an iota of my own

sorrow and despair

an inextricable labyrinth

of a solitary path

but as it seemed

that light itself

could never exist

as even an ideal

I entered the

final mausolean vault

with a lone sarcophagus

at the core

such dread I felt

but dreams can never

be denied

so as a marionette

disconnected

of body and mind

stepping to a decomposed dirge

I gazed within that

menacing obsidian

which contained

my deepest fear

Your Death

even in the pitch

which harbingered

creation and entropy

as a primordial abyss

I could feel your cold

desolate eyes

gazing up at me

like a knot had come

undone within me

I sunk to the now

caustic tar

that oozed

my heaved

primal

gut-wrenching

blasphemous

shriek

to the rancorous

maleficent fiend

who built this ghastly

parody of mourning

with such malicious intent

that it could have only been

Me

I wanted to die

to curl up beside you

and let my tears pay

the toll to Charon

feeding Styx

so I could join you

but rivers only descend

and death was above

what I had become

as I lay beside

your cadaverous memory

I could only lament

praying for death

to indifferent gods

because no one was there

for me

not even death

erase me

consume me

resign to oblivion

this dream

Reviews

[Kuandio]

To say this one was pretty dark is an understatement. It got me right from the beginning, making me feel claustrophobic. I wonder how you came up with this one? The fifth stanza was real powerful

I like the mentioning of titans and Taturus and the other shot outs to Greek mythology

Not sure if this makes sense but it sounds good - "which omniscient pantheons could not comprehend"

"With such malicious intent that it could only have been Me" (oh man!)

Rather unfortunately I suppose, but I could relate pretty easily to the themes presented here. Even though it is a dark write, perhaps a tad overdone, it is powerful

[Nusquam Esse]

I was aiming to make this transition from a brooding claustrophobic feeling (glad you felt it btw), in which it felt like everything was crushing you and squeezing you into a direction that you could only complacently submit to... and then to deliver a powerful blow. By itself, I agree that this feels overdone; but I am hoping that after I actually finish the poems before it, it will be an appropriate crescendo--once the reader has more opportunity to feel an emotional connection (so it is not so contrived). Obviously the omniscient bit contradicts the idea of not being able to comprehend something; but I was more intending to cast scrutiny on both ideas, a rather strong juxtaposition perhaps? Glad that this could be relatable for you despite how over-the-top I made it (even if it is unfortunate that you have felt things like this.)

[AprilRN1210]

ewwwww, I bet you couldn't wait for it to end... This sounds like a pretty intense dream... what a ride... an emotional journey you went through with this one...as always it is well written, can't really fault anything there.. it is pretty raw and powerful for sure... is it just me or are these out of order?... ha... it may just be me.... I am usually a day late and a dollar short, so to speak... but am enjoying the good ones and these "bad" ones... wheeew..

[Nusquam Esse]

Well, I am glad that you felt the emotion even when I wasn't being all mushy... and you are correct, I have been writing them all out of order! I am planning on having 21 dreams and an additional 2 segments after them... I already know what I want to do with the segments, but I want to get the dreams done first...

[Rene Salinas]

I am taken back. Nusquam had made me press the timer and get my pen and paper and confounded me to calculate all the possible moves. In a 8 * 8 board the proabability of moves is more than the intellect can fathom, it is quite a task. Here I am pushed to a similar excersise becuase many things can have many meanings. What is clear to me is the beauty of the journey as it is of discovery. The presence of unmovable time it is constant like a pounding. The extent of the experiences they could be life changing or mabe not. The language could be dark or maybe is not. So , I am left wondering but thankfull too as I am guest and I am given a view into apersonal experience. I await patiently to see how this will continue.

[Nusquam Esse]

Thanks for reading, I am glad that you noticed those tricky transition points and the word play throughout this. ex. "praying for death to indifferent gods", it is deliberately unclear if 'praying' or 'death' is directed to the gods, so it is either begging the gods... or cursing them, hoping that they die... Not gonna lie, I am enjoying writing these; have been churning them out at every available moment, and unlike the character, I don't want them to end... :P