"The Nightmare Never Ends"

“The Nightmare Never Ends” is a very emotional poem about the Vietnam War by Chris Woolnough. Woolnough vividly tells the reader the struggles that a veteran from any war or battle has to go through for the rest of their life! He uses this poem to illustrate just how much war can affect a young soldier.
“The Nightmare Never Ends” is a poem about the struggles of a veteran soldier even after their service is complete. Woolnough starts the poem with the speaker telling the soldier to rest his eyes and he will keep the soldier safe the best that he can. The veteran is cradled in his friend’s arms as he drifts into his nightmare of the Vietnam War. The speaker tried to help him but the fighter had already drifted back into Vietnam in his mind. The soldier is tense and shaking as he goes through his nightmare. His friend tries to call out his name and ease his fears. The combatant is already back fighting with his troops once more. Through what seems like forever, the soldier continues to thrash and dream his horrible dream. The speaker now finds that it is too late to bring him out of his nightmare, because the battle is taking place in his mind. He is fighting along with his troops and he hears them screaming in pain and crying for help. The veteran is now soaked in sweat as he continues to dream. He feels the bullets fly by him and is certain that he will die. But his friend says that he will not die today. The fighter is his brave hero. Even though the soldier has lost so many of his friends from war, he will not go with them today. The soldier now awakens from his horrible nightmare. Woolnough ends the poem by saying “But the nightmare never ends”. He is using this line to say that even though the soldier is not having a nightmare, the memories are always with him and he constantly lives in the nightmare of his memories.
I would recommend that everyone reads this poem. “The Nightmare Never Ends” is a very moving poem that allows the reader to feel what a veteran soldier feels. It illustrates the fighting that a combatant has to live with even when he is not in a real battle. One can feel sympathy for a veteran after reading this poem and realize that they must appreciate their armed forces and all they do. I think that everyone must realize all of the pain and suffering that our soldiers go through. Most people think that suffering ends when the combatant gets out of the war or the battle, but they must realize just how wrong they are. This poem by Woolnough illustrates exactly this. “The Nightmare Never Ends” shows how the suffering of memories continues until the day the soldier dies. “The Nightmare Never Ends” by Chris Woolnough is a wonderful poem about the Vietnam War that everyone should read.