Warning: This work has been rated 16+ for violence.
Stuck in a dream
The dream seems vague but still it's overall message was as apparent as it can be
The dream was without color
No color, not black not gray
Definitely not white no color
One color inverting the other
I'm trying to give what I see meaning
But the harder I try the more meaningless it seem
I asked myself is this the pictorial view of actual nothingness
I realized this isn't darkness or light
I heard a voice say this dream is life
Life is an actual indication of nothing
We live to die
I, then saw myself in a trance
Going back to see historic people that passed through life
By even in my trance I can't see a thousand generation before
It gave me an understanding that no matter when we must be forgotten sooner or later
I saw a girl walking down a staircase from the sky down to earth and light focused only on here; the further she goes the things behind her are left in the dark .
The things under the light with her as she moves is just like our existence as we're alive we are under the radar as we seem to grow,live then die, slowly the radar leaves us, we're forgotten left in ultimate darkness, but here not Darkness as in black, I mean the actual nothingness
Life ultimately is without meaning.
I then saw people committing suicide
I got the message here clealy that those people understood this before me
The harder we try to live life the harder we're forgotten
They discovered that no matter when, we must be forgotten then they decided to make it quicker
I admired their vision,their understanding of life
I saw footballers and I couldn't get the message I asked why do I see footballers
The voice answered;football Is a small glimpse of what life is
Great Footballers inspire younger footballers to make people forget them
Life is an endless circle of nothingness
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Hey! I’ve critique a poem before but the title caught my eye. I have to say, wow! I can relate to a nothingness dream. I dream every night and most times, they are useless. Haha.
The imagery you have is neat, and not overdone. I can tell right off I’m in a dream because there wasn’t any real point or plot. It just goes on to wherever it felt like going. I also liked the lack of periods. This decision made it clear that we’re in for a mundane dream as the title pointed out, but I think I kept reading because I was curious to know just how pointless this one could be. I liked it!
"The dream was without color
No color, not black not gray
Definitely not white no color
One color inverting the other"
--------I like how you describe "nothing." This reminded me of the idea that even "nothing" is something. When someone asks what's the problem, what's up, etc. sometimes were say "oh nothing". You know? Nothing means everything.
"Life ultimately is without meaning."
------This makes me think about how the fact that life has no meaning, means nothing, it can be seen as both positive and negative. As you showed, some people see it as this dark, depressing deep hole. But it also gives us so much more freedom when everything means nothing. The idea is so liberating to me.
Overall I liked reading this and it provoked me to think about my views on life.
Hi! This is a really interesting poem; let me get right into the review.
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This is an interesting opening; I know for novels and the like, starting with a dream isn't advised but it seems like it could work really well here in a poem.
This is one of the few lines that didn't quite work for me. I think I get what this is communicating, but perhaps it would help if it was conveyed metaphorically, or with an image? Perhaps a mountain seen through stained glass, someone shining a torch to see an empty starless sky, a wildfire seen through thick smoke.... (those were the best I could think of off the top of my head, but I don't think they're quite what you'd want unfortunately)
Hmm. Perhaps the repetition is a slight issue here, and I'm not quite sure how to picture a color inverting another, but the repetition does add to the sense of being lost or deprived of meaning in a way (like someone looking for a colored world, failing to find it and repeating this to themselves in denial?)
Perhaps breaking up the last line into two verses might work better? I like the idea here, but I think it might work better, at least for me, if it was expressed more indirectly or metaphorically? (Perhaps the narrator could say this about the words in the book of their life? That kind of context would really help make this more concrete)
Another line that didn't quite work for me. To me, this felt a bit too long and abstract. I guess the idea was to have the narrator look out on life and ask if what they saw was a picture of true/absolute nothingness? Perhaps a better analogy might be the sound of a tree falling when no one's there to hear it, or the last entry of a diary unknowingly written with an empty pen? A concrete stand-in for what actual nothingness might look like would help, but feel free to ignore this if it doesn't fit your intent with these lines.
I really like these lines!
These lines were a bit too on the nose for me, and the last line felt a bit too abrupt for a line in the middle of the poem (it might work as an ending?). Perhaps something like "For all that lives is born to die" might be better for the last line? Just a suggestion though, please feel free to ignore this; don't want to interfere with your phrasing.
Regarding the first line, I think I get what it's trying to convey, and it seems good; perhaps it would pack more of a punch expressed more metaphorically? "Life is the sign signifying nothing"? "Life is the map, leading by the straight and crooked path, to no place, by the roads that lead to nowhere"? (Again, these just some examples to illustrate what I mean; please ignore them if they aren't helping you)
Minor nitpick, but the comma doesn't seem necessary there.
Hmm. Again, the idea here seems to be solid. Only nitpicks would be plural "generations" and, perhaps "to see people of the past that passed..." would work better than "historic people"? Because, to me, historic doesn't quite convey the idea of "of the past" somehow.
Another line that I had trouble with. I really appreciate the idea here, and it does work well given the topic, but it's a bit more direct than I prefer I guess? Perhaps something like "It showed to me, in every Age of time, we must be forgotten in the end"?
Oooh. I quite like the image here, reminds me of Stairway to Heaven (but really inverted in a way) https://youtu.be/QkF3oxziUI4
Hmm, this feels like a prose intermission in the poem, which could work I think. My issue here is that it feels like it's telling the reader what the poem's meant to mean, in a way? Perhaps phrasing it literally, so it's a metaphor might work better? So something like "The debris of our existence in life under the light, as she moves. We are the blips on a radar as we seem to grow and live, and then as the radar leaves us, die; left in darkness that is nothingness, not even black." But again, this is just as example; I can't say if it's anywhere close to what you're intending here.
I do like how direct this is, but perhaps the idea of it being "ultimately" without meaning could do with more buildup? So perhaps some lines just before this about peeling away the layers, digging to the bottom, of Life, and then the line here about finding it without meaning?
This quite a sensitive aspect, so I'm really unsure about this, but perhaps this would pack more of a punch (it does pack a punch as it is though) if we get at least an indirect or subtle image (falling in nooses made by their own hands?)
I like the idea here about a final, terminal message that convinces people to give up on life (as a literary thing, obviously); I know I must've repeated this a lot, but perhaps making it more concrete would help? "I saw that signs that they had seen" ?
This felt simple and direct in way that felt like it did work, especially when I thought about it a bit. Quite nice.
Hmm. nitpicking again, but it seems almost contradictory to me to discuss an understanding of life given the theme of nihilism that's in the rest of the poem? I realize in context that this understanding is of the sort that fits nihilism, but even just the idea of "understanding of life" feels a bit odd here is all.
This is another portion that somehow didn't quite work for me. It feels like you've portrayed this idea you're giving an analogy for so well in the rest of the poem, the analogy with football almost seems redundant? Perhaps this might work as an opening to the poem? Another nitpick would be the voice answering you; it seems a bit counter to the nihilism to have a voice give you any answer at all, is my issue.
I appreciate the idea here; for me personally, it really would work better if it was more concrete; perhaps a closed circle of tarmac in a desert, down which we walk, waiting to get to our "destination"? I know I must've repeated this point so many times; I don't know if this is just a strong personal preference, but I do thing it would help.
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Final thoughts;
My main issues were not enough being conveyed indirectly or via imagery, and just being told the abstract meanings that you're aiming to communicate.
I like the theme of nihilism and how you really hammer it in, with stuff like life being a dream, and the great images you use when you do use imagery (more please!
I really really appreciate this review
I want you to please review my other works
And more importantly can we be in touch off this site, I think I can use your help
This was a wonderful read. The way you started with a dream of nothing to the meaning of life as you view it. It was deep just like how life is. The use of having a colorless dream to then slowly walk to how you realize life is, it's beautiful. The poem had a sad tone to it, like life. It was a bridge between realization and gloomy feeling with the realization.
It was a lovely read!!
I liked reading this poem,it was a lot to think about.We all ask ourselves what the meaning of life is,what dreams are.It’s a question that will go on for many years,it will continue in a cycle.This was a nice read.Good job on your piece.I hope you have a lovely and wonderful day and night.Goodbye!
Hey There!!! Here for a brief Review!!
Firstly the poetic devices used in the poem are truly remarkable !!! Especially the extend of Anaphora of "I" and Somber Imagery used in almost every other line ... words such as ultimate darkness, Stuck in a dream, glimpse of life,Historic people passing, forgotten footballers and actual nothingness surely makes readers realize the harsh truth of reality.
From Cradle to grave , we live in an illusion and even the great American Singer and Songwriter "Billie Eilish" dauntlessly exclaimed "We all gonna die and no ones gonna remember us so F*** it!!"
Your poem has a melancholic and gloomy and simultaneously a pragmatic theme which several readers can identify with....
The concluding phrase "Life is an endless circle of nothingness "highlights your sole intention and the impression throughout the poem .... All in All I thoroughly appreciate and adore your structure and intent of writing poems .... Its highly distinctive and rare to read such deep existential poems that remind us of why we have begun the journey of life and how everything is going to tragically end no matter how we try to impress and improve ....