Before You Knew The Word Nightmare by J.J. Steinfeld 

How many of us can recall our very first nightmare?
Now that would be a spectacular memory
to share with intimates and casual acquaintances alike.
Perhaps at a subdued dinner party, creeping along,
you mention that first nightmare
before you knew the word nightmare
or knew how to calculate fearfulness.
Sure as sin, as you attempt to salvage that first night terror
someone unruly, drink in hand,
interrupts with his nightmare
or what passes for a nightmare
then some smart-ass film buff
brings up A Nightmare on Elm Street
and a dozen other nightmarish films
the party picks up, the words louder
and suddenly you recall that first nightmare
not quite in its entirety but in horrifying fragments
and reveal it to the kindly stranger standing nearby
with the almost faded scars on her lovely wrists.

Canadian poet, fiction writer, and playwright J. J. Steinfeld lives on Prince Edward Island, where he is patiently waiting for Godot’s arrival and a phone call from Kafka. While waiting, he has published 24 books, including An Unauthorized Biography of Being (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2016), Absurdity, Woe Is Me, Glory Be (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2017), A Visit to the Kafka Café (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2018), Gregor Samsa Was Never in The Beatles (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2019), Morning Bafflement and Timeless Puzzlement (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2020), Somewhat Absurd, Somehow Existential (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2021), Acting on the Island (Stories, Pottersfield Press, 2022), and As You Continue to Wait (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2022).