while dreaming last night
i found myself swimming by the sea
in the warm waters of expectations
when the red ball appeared
so i pursued it
as i did in my youth
finding my body transformed
into a golden koi
struggling against the current
i saw the ball within my reach
but it dove beneath the waves
and i with no thought of tomorrow
followed it like a man possessed
lusting after its power
so willingly forfeiting my soul
in pursuit of this prize
but without warning
the sea became black
the blackness filled my lungs
each breath pierced them
like a razor’s edge
cutting deeper
and deeper
until i was the blackness
floating as a unified corpse
with others in the blackness
trapped in the tidal flow
consuming all in our path
bringing them into the darkness
grasping all that lived
and as we reached the shore
i awoke in a cold sweat
tears streaming down my face
for i knew the nightmare
had just
begun
Read Between the Minds 
Charlie…. I am going through living hell these days. Yet again… But I guess this is the will of Allah. Maktub – it was written. I saw that dream-catcher in your picture… Rolf has an identical one. I am making supernatural efforts these days to erase him completely out of my life, because he finally hurt me more than he could have ever done or ever did in this earthly life. And then, always when I am trying my hardest to forget, something comes up and shatters everything – as if God was having fun playing with my heart. Anyway, your poetry is a ray of sun for me. I don’t think I shall update anything until this Thursday when it’s my birthday [thanks so much for the anticipated wishes and for calling me a queen… though I feel rather like a beggar these days], but I will be coming over to read all of your stuff. You know, I wish someone would catch my dreams and imprison them somewhere. But I guess they would bargain like the golden make-a-wish fish in the fairytale and finally get away again. They have this amazing capacity, I’m afraid. No one can put them in chains.
So I see that the nightmares have begun … 🙂 I hope I am not culpable for this…
A beautifully worded poem though! Loved and dwelled over every word of it!
beautiful and soulful. I could actually visualise the scene .. ur awsum mate!
You’ve captured heartbreak, futility, so much in this one. I’m left sad and angry after reading it.
I can identify with this one…
“i knew the nightmare
had just
begun”
Dreams can end but reality can’t. Amazing!
love this
Quite a vivid dreamscape you paint with your words. Another cool reading too. You definitely make a compelling argument for a new dream catcher. cheers
The dream you caught seems to have been traumatic slpmartin in a Poe sort of way. I like it, but then, I like dark edgy verse.
Very vivid. Strong language with powerful imagery. Compellingly tragic–it is sad, but the words and the pictures you paint just keep drawing you along. Wonderful.
“so willingly forfeiting my soul
in pursuit of this prize”;
these two lines are haunting and so terrifying; and of course, then everything turns black even upon waking ; a soul has been sold to the darkness. Very powerful and frightening. Heartspell
I love the poems with the “dream “theme, like it=]
I also saw this one played out. Love you work 🙂
I just wanted to come by and wish you a very happy time blogging. I will be on vacation. I will do my very best to get to a computer.I may have to leave a quick comment, but you will know I have been by. I will also be checking my blog for comments left. So, if you leave a comment….REMEMBER…Make me SMILE. Thanks to you all.
As you will recall smiles are not my strong suit…but I shall email you with whatever smiles I find…I truly appreciate all that you give to others through you post and hope your vacation is as wonderful as you!
Hm. I think think the ball and the koi are symbolic but I haven’t quite figured it out. I loved this because it really got me thinking and it is so dark, like a real nightmare I kinda wanted it to end. Shiver. Thanks
Another brilliant work — I particularly like the line:
“…so willingly forfeiting my soul
in pursuit of this prize…”
So much said is so few words. Maybe a different color would help…but sometimes nightmares can be messages we have to decipher for transitions in life…keep writing, of course. And I will keep reading.
http://imuapress.wordpress.com/
Apart from feeling the need to apologise for being British and for the negligence of the BP head honcho, this was an amazing piece of writing on every level, and many different layers
Yet another fantastic poem.
I liked this a lot! I have not noticed until now that you have recorded every poem. This inspired me, thanks.
Perhaps I will record mine too, but we will see about that in the future.
Water. Unconscious. Gold. Fish. Transformation. The dream ends. The nightmare begins. The soul is forfet. Is transformation possible in nightmare? Have we lost the battle and the war. Has spirit been consumed as well? A truly wonderous work, slpmartin.
this is just awesome martin. you are a golden poet.
That was phenomenal!
Thanks for the beautiful read.
Reads like a dream of a nightmare. I like connection between the mythological nature of your poem and Native American myth. You are so koi. Sue