John Sara on “Dream Warriors”
“Dream Warriors” was written in the midst of my thesis semester of grad school. While I’d be quick to call myself a fiction writer mainly, this year I’ve found myself writing more and more poetry in those hours spent not working on my thesis. In particular, I’ve been using poetry as a way to explore my love for horror—seeing what images and themes live at the core of my favorite movies and books, and framing them in a new lens while staying true to their identity.
The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise is my favorite of all the horror franchises. Part of what draws me to that series is its protagonists. They’re always outsiders, never believed by their parents, forced in some way to confront their fears. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, this piece’s inspiration, is a great example of that. In this poem, I’ve tried to draw on the film’s themes of defiance to build to this ultimate moment of empowerment. Freddy Krueger—while I have not directly named him—faces poetic justice by the end, forced into a therapy circle with the rest of these troubled teens.