The Nightmare Complex

To write a poem I dream an undreamed dream The woods in France deformed by dead young men A nightmare complex in its perplexed themes In our dream the narrative has means To make those killed communicate again To write a poem I dream an undreamed dream Later, in another war, trains steamed To take the “insect” Jew, no longer “man.” A nightmare simple in its evil themes The little pearls we half see, as we scheme The evasions we ignored but which remained. We read a poem, we dream an undreamed dream Who we are and who we might have been At 4 am in isolated pain The Nightmare Complex, come to share your screams Can any see the woods as Dante aimed To recreate the moment where we change? To write a poem embodies soldiers’ dreams Nightmares dark yet piercing wartime themes