Heart beating
so fast listen
on the wind...
pulsating in
the big City,
the rhythms
flow through
my anxious mind,
helter-skelter
it takes me away
slipping and then
sliding...vibrating
around every corner,
if you listen
you can hear
the echoes -
bringing other
nightmares flooding
forward ever closer,
keep running, here
they come - don't
stop...don't look
back - invisible
sounds can't touch
me, but if I peek
they'll get me,
those masked faces
floating - searching
the rays of light...
stay still they
will not see me,
stop! all is silent
the nightmares gone
for now - be brave
come forward...
breathe slowly,
take a hold of
reality once more.
Comments
Highhat | August 31, 2011 - 19:58
Oh dear that sure was a nightmare- glad I woke up in the end.. Nice one Jenny- you really nailed the feeling and experience..
;)Pia
HiddenBehindTheMask | August 31, 2011 - 20:20
I was almost holding my breath through every line of this poem. It's quite a thinker this one.. and really realistic!
- Emma
skinner_jennifer | August 31, 2011 - 20:23
Hi Pia,
thankyou for reading and letting me know your
thoughts, always appreciated.
Jenny.
skinner_jennifer | August 31, 2011 - 20:26
Hi Emma,
it was quite a traumatic nightmare I have to say,
running through a strange city in the dark, and
being chased.
Glad it could get you thinking.
Thanks for letting me know.
Jenny.
fatboy74 | September 1, 2011 - 00:55
You capture this very well Jenny. :-)
skinner_jennifer | September 1, 2011 - 10:08
Hi FB, great to hear from you.
I had to write this down, almost as soon as I woke
up, so that it was fresh in my memory, it's
amazing how quickly dreams can disappear from your
mind.
Well thankyou for reading and letting me know you
could grasp what I was writing.
I do hope you are well and that everything is okay
with you.
Take care.
Jenny.
RachelPatricia | September 1, 2011 - 11:28
Like Emma, I struggled with my breathing too when reading this, Jenny! ;)
Wonderful pace and as FB said, you've captured the moment really well in this - very much enjoyed :)
Hope you are well and having more restful nights now,
Rachel xx
skinner_jennifer | September 1, 2011 - 12:59
Hi Rachel,
thanks for reading and commenting.
I love to analyse dreams and often wonder what
they mean, I think there are messages in dreams.
I wonder if there's anyone out there that knows
what being chased by dark shadows through a city
means?
Jenny.
Steve | September 2, 2011 - 09:12
This is a fantastic poem with a lovely trot to it.
Borghes once surmised that a "nightmare" could have been a word combination of "night" and "mare." He imagined a nightmare as a dark, black horse.
The poem has that kind of quality to it or a dream by De Chirico the painter. Not quite logical, something a bit disturbing.
skinner_jennifer | September 2, 2011 - 09:24
Wow! thankyou Steve,
that is an amazing comment and I'm very honoured
to be associated with the painter De Chirico, you
have blown me away with your words.
I like the idea of the night and the mare, being
a dark black horse, this is fascinating stuff and
I thankyou again.
Great comment.
Jenny.
RachelPatricia | September 2, 2011 - 12:38
I'm much like you in that way, Jenny - sometimes I look into them a little too much, that's my problem! I've always been an extremely vivid and prolific dreamer and can even remember one from being around four or five years old as if it was yesterday - I was brushing my teeth with tiny plastic crocodiles in my favourite red pjamas, watching my reflection in a little round mirror and smiling. To this day, I have no idea what that means, but it makes me chuckle. Some are very cinematic and epic - I wake feeling as if I've just walked back into the light after being to the cinema, and I used to dream of flying an awful lot but not in the last few years, which I miss, as those were my favourites :)
I've also had dreams of being chased in darkness - I think they mean there's a part of you or your life you're not acknowledging or something like that but I could be wrong, I've read far too many of those 'dream interpretation' books and they all say something different, don't they?! My favourite dream was one I had around a year ago, of walking through a darkened ruined courtyard full of big cats like jaguars and panthers that hung in the shadows and all I could see were their eyes and could hear only their snarling, and I know this doesn't sound like it should be my favourite at all but the reason it is is because walking right by my side was a huge golden lioness, like Aslan straight out of Narnia, and I had my arm resting across her as we walked and could feel her soft warm fur in my hand and didn't feel one bit frightened at all. We kept walking towards a set of stone steps in the distance that led up to a monument of sorts and as we got closer the big cats started moving in, and one of them jumped out and locked it's teeth onto my free arm, but I didn't feel any pain. I tried to shake it off but it wouldn't let go, and in my head I was asking the lioness to do something. No sooner had I thought it she turned her huge head and opened her mouth wide, bared her teeth and roared so loud in the animals face that the ground shook and it ran off cowering back into the shadows with the others, and my lioness and I just carried on walking towards the stone steps as if nothing had happened. I woke up feeling so empowered and positive, and still draw strength from that dream when times get tough. I really feel for people who don't dream to this extent, as even though the nightmares can be absolutely terrifying, the good dreams are amazing beyond comprehension and I actually feel quite blessed to be such a lucid dreamer, sure you do too and that you've had some pretty amazing dreams yourself ;)
You've inspired me to write down some of them myself now, Jenny - thanks!
Hope you slept well last night and again, thanks for the lovely read :)
Rachel xx
skinner_jennifer | September 2, 2011 - 15:30
Hi there Rachel,
WOW! again, I seem to be using that word a lot
lately. I totally agree with you about dreams,
whether they be nightmares or wonderful dreams,
they help to escape from reality sometimes and
it's amazing how many different places you can
go in a dream.
I think your dream about the lion was amazing,
it almost sounds like the lion could be your
guardian, I cannot think of a more majestic
animal to have as a guardian.
I had a strange dream last night, I dreamt I was
pulling strings of plastic out of my fingers, the
more I pulled out my fingers, they started to sag,
like I was pulling the insides out, but like your
nightmare, it didn't hurt at all, infact it was a
relief to get these long bits of plastic out of my
fingers. I know it's so strange, but that's dreams
for you.
If you go to my ABC SET OF DREAMS, I have two other
dreams, that you might like to read, ofcourse it's
up to you.
Thankyou for the brilliant insight in to your dreams,
I'm glad I could inspire you to write about your own
dreams, I'm sure they will be fun to read, or
nightmarish, whichever.
Have a great weekend and I hope the sun shines down
on you.
Jenny. xx
Steve | September 3, 2011 - 00:38
Dreams tell you that you have a rich psychic life which is the source of the human soul or spirit.
Free-associate the crocodile toothbrush and the red pajamas and the repressed content may come out. It may be symbolism.
Being chased in darkness, I completely agree. There's something in your personal unconscious (darkness) that you are afraid of acknowledging.
A wonderful dreamer is a wonderful artist.
beaste | May 6, 2012 - 18:29
sounds like a scary nightmare and i luv the way uv expressed it in this poem. Nice one =-)
beaste
skinner_jennifer | May 8, 2012 - 15:15
Hello beaste,
thankyou so much for expressing an interest in
this poem.
I'm very grateful that it was inspiring enough
for you to comment.
Again thankyou so much for your kind words.
Jenny.
beaste | May 9, 2012 - 18:48
aww, anytime Jenny ;-)