08 December 2007

Of Iraqmares and Strange Dreams

It is quite normal for those on deployment to have strange dreams during the time of slumber. During my time on a sub, it was so commonplace that we had a euphemism for them: "boatmares". They usually involved being crushed in a hydraulic press, symbolic of claustrophobic tension, or being surrounded by small fishing boats, symbolic of the frustration felt while on watch. But in Iraq, the new anxieties emerge in the time of the sub-conscious. For example, I had a bizarre one when I was new here where I was a young child running around my grandmother's living room, while mortar rounds boomed around me. Iraq: The Purgatorium details a dream where the author is shooting insurgents. I recently had one where I visited my mother's house and she locked me in a room. Has anyone else had strange dreams of this nature? I think the best way to describe them is "Iraqmares". I hope you all don't have them when you have redeployed, as dreams can be a very powerful thing.

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