The Dream

Conversation.

Their smile
said yes.
Something else
said no.

I felt it
before it
happened.

A pencil—
They bored
into
my face.

They’d misunderstood
me.
I woke
crying.

The Meaning

sense
I register danger before it’s visible. A felt knowing. Something’s off, but I can’t name it.

stabbing
The wound of being misunderstood.
My system is primed for it—hypervigilant, bracing for impact.

What Lingers…

What if the body recognises threat before language can name it?

What if living in defence becomes its own signal—drawing what it fears?

---

Marginalia

A recent conversation gave me information that didn’t tally. I remember the apprehension in my body. This dream is how my unconscious chose to live out that anxiety.

It could have pacified me, but instead it forced me to face my fear — releasing it so violently it shook itself out through my body.

I know nightmares mean different things depending on our histories. For some, they retraumatise — looping the body in terror, not healing at all.
For me, they sometimes act like emotional fire drills — terrifying in the moment, but afterward I feel lighter, as though something has been processed.

This is only my experience. I know not all bodies dream this way.