The American Dream | Teen Ink

The American Dream MAG

By Amy Hildreth BRONZE, Wichita, Kansas
Amy Hildreth BRONZE, Wichita, Kansas
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

It is the American Dream
What we all strive for and imagine
Indouble-wide trailers to double-wide mansions
In sprouting lakes of fake fish.
Nothing captures its essence
Unbound by time or dust or rot
The thingswe cherish still are lovingly patted
And brought through thecenturies.

It is more than a dream now
It's a reality that the millionshave made
Our heart and soul builds the heaven on earth.
A refuge for thesick,
And a shelter for the needy,
It is everything we desire.

Inthe cherry trucks and laughing children
To indolent teenagers with smokecircling
We see our dream and the actuality
It may not be perfect, but itis our heaven
And so disillusioned we conjure forth our hope.

In thepicket fences we see our childhood
In the sky we see our adulthood
And inthe middle we see our life.
Suspended, but not contained,
It is the dreamthat wakes within us all.






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This article has 80 comments.


on Dec. 29 2011 at 6:32 pm
Beautifully written; you truly have talent. . . keep it up!

on Dec. 29 2011 at 12:19 pm
fictitious-quandary GOLD, Orlando, Florida
18 articles 5 photos 83 comments

Favorite Quote:
Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right"
- Henry Ford

I loved it

on Dec. 29 2011 at 12:15 pm
fictitious-quandary GOLD, Orlando, Florida
18 articles 5 photos 83 comments

Favorite Quote:
Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right"
- Henry Ford

No nuclear power is extremely beneficial to sustaining today's electrical output without straining our less abundant natural resources and with a lesser affect on the environment. Chernobyl is the only reason nuclear power is given a harsh rep and it was merely because the soviet union decided to save money and stop renewing old machines causing a nuclear fallout. Anyways nuclear weapons can be very dangerous for today's society but you would be surprised at how many benefits there are to nuclear power. Coal actually has by far the worst negative affect on the environment in which we all live in.

on Dec. 29 2011 at 4:00 am
Wildflower30 SILVER, Kolkata, Other
8 articles 0 photos 88 comments

Favorite Quote:
Create your own sayings, for only then do they make sense most. ---- Me

This is so pretty!

KenManSon said...
on Nov. 15 2011 at 11:21 am
This is so very true love it

on Aug. 19 2011 at 11:24 pm
Autumn-Rain SILVER, West Lafayette, Indiana
9 articles 1 photo 74 comments
I really liked it... especially the last stanza...

on Jul. 28 2011 at 8:55 pm
BrightBurningCampeador PLATINUM, Portland, Oregon
42 articles 11 photos 333 comments
When I think america I think of greed and huge corporations. I think of useless politicians and the blind ignorance that permeates our society.

on Jul. 28 2011 at 8:52 pm
BrightBurningCampeador PLATINUM, Portland, Oregon
42 articles 11 photos 333 comments
What exactly do you mean by "COME ON" ?

on Jul. 28 2011 at 8:51 pm
BrightBurningCampeador PLATINUM, Portland, Oregon
42 articles 11 photos 333 comments
Both are pretty bad.

on Jul. 6 2011 at 3:30 pm
Some words are bunched together which kind of disracts the reader, but I like it.

gpnukem said...
on Jun. 14 2011 at 10:30 pm
I enjoy your optimism.  Keep the hope.

on Apr. 9 2011 at 3:44 pm
ilovedayna BRONZE, Story, Wyoming
3 articles 4 photos 77 comments

Favorite Quote:
i love you

this is the american dream that pilgrims and them had... and i believe theres still ppl out there that have this dream. Good Job with the poem but before putting it on the web you should look through it one more time.... but i like it. i like it a lot

cleo said...
on Mar. 18 2011 at 8:27 pm
the last two lines are amazing and really bring the whole poem together

on Mar. 18 2011 at 4:35 pm
TheHangingGirl BRONZE, Winter Haven, Florida
1 article 1 photo 250 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Poets utter great and wise things that they themselves can not comprehend."

Well, mabye it's both...

on Mar. 18 2011 at 2:46 am
The.King SILVER, Golden, Colorado
9 articles 1 photo 69 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A story's beginning is a sudden event. The start, a happy accident; the end, the fate for which it's meant. A story that never ends is a sad fate."-Miss Edel

I hate typing on my phone! "our" should be "or"

on Mar. 18 2011 at 2:44 am
The.King SILVER, Golden, Colorado
9 articles 1 photo 69 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A story's beginning is a sudden event. The start, a happy accident; the end, the fate for which it's meant. A story that never ends is a sad fate."-Miss Edel

Just clarifying, nuclear power our nuclear weaponry?

Gigantron GOLD said...
on Feb. 2 2011 at 6:17 am
Gigantron GOLD, Somewhere, Texas
11 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority (imposed dogma, faith), [as opposed to] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works."

-Stephen Hawking

What this author describes may be the idealistic vision of the "true" American dream...but it's purely idealism. 

The sins that beset human kind: Nuclear power, war, famine, etc. are all part of this messed up reality of which we choose to live in. 

The American dream has already came true. You're looking at it. =|


Fran94 SILVER said...
on Jan. 17 2011 at 2:20 pm
Fran94 SILVER, Hayward, California
8 articles 0 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you are content with being yourself and never compete or compare, everyone will respect you."
-Laotzu

The American Dream you describe is very vivid and real. I can really imagine that dream. I think you should keep writing poems like this one. This poem, to me, truly does embrace the dream that many people have.

trblue GOLD said...
on Nov. 28 2010 at 1:55 am
trblue GOLD, Richmond, Virginia
14 articles 7 photos 141 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Too often we lose sight of life's simple pleasures. Remember, when someone annoys you, it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown. It only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and slap that mother@#?!&* upside the head. "

im not gone lie your poem is so good that it gors right over my head or it's because im so so so so so sleepy. yes, it's the second one.

on Nov. 10 2010 at 8:01 pm
Shirley_R_K SILVER, Liberty, South Carolina
9 articles 0 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.
-1 Peter 3:15

It's just a typo... people make mistakes.  Besides, I posted this almost a year ago...