The Scream Dream! Poem by Denis Martindale

The dream I dreamt began to unfold,
and I saw a famous American actor,
the star of many films and TV series.
I recognised his solemn face immediately
as he was standing in his military uniform
that his TV series character used to wear.
He was on his farm, standing in his barn,
paying his last respects next to his wife's coffin.
He then mounted his horse and left the barn.

The patient, noble steed, walked slowly along
for about a hundred yards and then stopped.
The man then turned the horse back to face the barn.
A few people on his farm also saw the man there.
At first, the poor man was suddenly motionless,
as if his life meant nothing to him anymore.
Then we, as his witnesses, heard him scream.
It was an unexpected horrifying scream,
full of anguish, followed by the sounds of his sobbing.
Nobody was near him at this terrible time.
There was nothing and nobody to stop him.

And I heard myself saying these sad words,
'Yes, let him scream, let him sob, let him weep.
Do not intervene, hinder him or cut him short.
It is right to face his grief for his dead wife.'
And I watched him there, another man alone,
releasing all his sorrows, fears and tears.
Everything that he had chosen to hold back.
Until it was time, in the here and the now.

And with such a mournful dream as this was to me,
ending suddenly and yet still stored in full memory,
I reflected on my sister's recent passing once more.
There is a time for every purpose under Heaven,
even when the tears of grief are the tears of love.


Denis Martindale. For the 9th of May 2026.

Here is a dream poem by the Poemhunter poet Denis Martindale. The title is THE SCREAM DREAM and the poem is about the portrayal of one man's grief following the death of his wife. The main character was a famous American actor and in the dream he was dressed in a military uniform just as he appeared in a TV series I had watched for years. This time, it was personal. I was a witness, a bystander and nothing more.