Why I Loved Carolyn Devonshire's Poem

Past-Life Nightmare A child of four suffers recurring dreams, disturbing parents and siblings with screams. When she awoke, always sore in one knee; next to a birthmark, it throbbed painfully. Night after night she feared going to bed. What caused these nightmares that raged in her head? Even when grown, the torment persisted, so a therapist's aid she enlisted. "Hypnosis," said he, "might offer some clues. Why not try it? You've just bad dreams to lose." Once under, he guided her to a room -- here people's lifetimes in books were entombed. "Find one that is yours," her counselor said. Quickly she did, but before it was read, she felt an ache, saw just a faint title. The words, she thought, said "Alister Bridle." The hypnotic trance now suddenly broke; puzzling questions "Mr. Bridle" evoked. For many years she thought that was her name; perhaps a past life had been filled with pain. Who was this man? She simply had to know! Seasons passed, summer suns made way for snow. In Florida now, 1998, she thought all the nightmares she had escaped. But strange dreams always catch us by surprise -- when the lights grow dim, our minds fantasize. Cloaked in velvet, she left her parents' farm, stealing away on a late autumn morn'. To meet her love, she climbed on the carriage, knowing her folks would forbid their marriage. Warm-hued leaves carpeted the hillside road, and her pulse beat fast; she'd soon join her beau. She thought only of him; joy cast its smile, but that's when he called, "Alice, the bridle!" The leather band broke and wrapped 'round her knee. To the ground she was pulled; her horse ran free. She met death, but past-life dreams recycle, and she'd never been "Alister Bridle." Copyright © Carolyn Devonshire | Year Posted 2009 Narrative Carolyn Devonshire poured out her life in her poetry. As a child I would have recurred nightmares that I would remember upon waking in the morning; I chose, Past-Life Nightmare, as a favorite for that reason. The dreams were terrifyingly real. My grandmother, now gone, used to tell me that dreams always meant the opposite. In my dreams; I’m outside in the yard alone, crying out for help, and fighting a bear standing over me. I could see mom serving as dad ate, through the screen door of the kitchen, but they couldn’t hear my screams. 8/21/2021 Poetry Contest: Celebrating Carolyn's Poetry: An Uncontest Sponsored by: Andrea Dietrich