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The American Dream This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine.




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.




This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.




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angel.stec said...
Apr. 30 at 11:10 am:
I love the last lines. Can I quote it in a paper for school? 
 
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TenebraeIncarnatiThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Mar. 26 at 11:27 am:
Nicely done. I give it a 5/5 rating because it's relative and well written. Keep up the good work.
 
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ImJustAGuyThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Mar. 26 at 12:23 am:
This is great, i can actually relate a lot to it.  Keep up the great writing and i rated this a 5/5!   Please check out some of my work, im  a new and upcoming poet
 
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Gaho said...
Mar. 22 at 1:55 am:

I don't quite understand this..

You first talk about materialism and corruption (i'm assuming) then talk about how it is a good thing (provides shelter etc.)

I'm confused..

Maybe i'm just interpreting this all wrong, but if you could comment back and clear this up for me, it would be much appreciated ^^

 
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WhyNotThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Jan. 20 at 11:09 pm:
This is the most truthful work of art I have seen yet. I love it!!!!
 
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garthgirl8888This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Dec. 31, 2011 at 4:00 pm:
This is really good. I am impressed and also happy that you chose to write about something different from love, romance, stereotypical relationships. My one question is whether some of your words were squished together on purpose or not. If not, proofread more, and if so I don't really understand why. However, this is a tiny detail; you have here a wonderful piece.
 
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jasmineflower<3 said...
Dec. 29, 2011 at 6:32 pm:
Beautifully written; you truly have talent. . . keep it up!
 
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publicdomainThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Dec. 29, 2011 at 12:19 pm:
I loved it
 
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Wildflower30This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Dec. 29, 2011 at 4:00 am:
This is so pretty!
 
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KenManSon said...
Nov. 15, 2011 at 11:21 am:
This is so very true love it
 
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Annie.CThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Aug. 19, 2011 at 11:24 pm:
I really liked it... especially the last stanza...
 
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Pure-EnchantedThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Jul. 6, 2011 at 3:30 pm:
Some words are bunched together which kind of disracts the reader, but I like it.
 
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gpnukem said...
Jun. 14, 2011 at 10:30 pm:
I enjoy your optimism.  Keep the hope.
 
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ilovedayna said...
Apr. 9, 2011 at 3:44 pm:
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
 
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cleo said...
Mar. 18, 2011 at 8:27 pm:
the last two lines are amazing and really bring the whole poem together
 
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Gigantron said...
Feb. 2, 2011 at 6:17 am:

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. =|

 
TheKingThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. replied...
Mar. 18, 2011 at 2:44 am :
Just clarifying, nuclear power our nuclear weaponry?
 
TheKingThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. replied...
Mar. 18, 2011 at 2:46 am :
I hate typing on my phone! "our" should be "or"
 
hanging_girl_666This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. replied...
Mar. 18, 2011 at 4:35 pm :
Well, mabye it's both...
 
BrightBurningCampeadorThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. replied...
Jul. 28, 2011 at 8:51 pm :
Both are pretty bad.
 
publicdomainThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. replied...
Dec. 29, 2011 at 12:15 pm :
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 nuclea... (more »)
 
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Fran94This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Jan. 17, 2011 at 2:20 pm:
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.
 
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trblueThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Nov. 28, 2010 at 1:55 am:
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.
 
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LostInTimeThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Oct. 15, 2010 at 6:55 pm:

Wow, I loved this poem. 

Particularly because I've been studying u.s history and feeling rather patriotic as of late ; ) 

 
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elizrhea said...
Sept. 23, 2010 at 7:00 am:
I really liked this poem. It's so true.
 
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CH-girl said...
Aug. 15, 2010 at 4:48 am:

I come from China,you tell me an American dream,its very beautiful.I hope learn more about the country,although my English is not very well``````

COME ON

 
BrightBurningCampeadorThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. replied...
Jul. 28, 2011 at 8:52 pm :
What exactly do you mean by "COME ON" ?
 
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mcpanicfanicThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Aug. 10, 2010 at 9:49 pm:
This is truely deep. I dont say that a lot either. This poem is amazing! Captivating! And very true!
 
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waywithwords said...
Jul. 19, 2010 at 9:10 pm:
i love it. it really makes you think
 
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Ashley P. said...
Jul. 19, 2010 at 3:09 pm:
wow love this a lot
 
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palak said...
Jun. 27, 2010 at 2:01 am:
wow a truly beautiful work...i wonder how you do it
 
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Gretchen P. said...
Jun. 5, 2010 at 11:49 am:
Very well written, I'm not a huge American patriot but none the less I cant deny the great quality of the poem and your word choice. Much of it is mostly true just about people in general
 
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funnythewayitis said...
May 14, 2010 at 8:58 pm:
really true. i love it
 
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Ashee97 said...
May 14, 2010 at 3:11 pm:
wow, this is amazing! where do you come up with such great poetry? i actually sung this as i was reading it, i thought it could also make a beautiful song. again, this is just sooo amazing! i am canadian myself though, but that dosent stop me from loving this poem to bits. do keep up the excellent work, you excell at writing poetry! :) awesome job!
 
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iliketac0s said...
Apr. 22, 2010 at 10:55 am:
this was beautiful!!
 
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SolvoAnimus said...
Mar. 31, 2010 at 1:35 am:

This is what I  think of when I think "America"...

Its a beautiful thang!

 
BrightBurningCampeadorThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. replied...
Jul. 28, 2011 at 8:55 pm :
When I think america I think of greed and huge corporations. I think of useless politicians and the blind ignorance that permeates our society.
 
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miss.yell99This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Mar. 9, 2010 at 10:58 pm:
it's so coooooooooool!!!
 
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alayapoetgirl said...
Feb. 15, 2010 at 9:12 pm:
When you get the chance please check out my opinion essay on animal rights/ vegetarianism
 
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alayapoetgirl said...
Feb. 15, 2010 at 9:11 pm:
I adore this poem, it is extremely well-written. It withholds extraordinary powers! lol, seriously. You are an amazing poet, and this poem has great truth to it as well
 
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pampalooga This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Feb. 15, 2010 at 5:01 pm:
Wow, this is really great! It has a lot of meaning behind simple metaphors and standards of American life. Check out my stuff if you have the chance!
 
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RenaissanceMan said...
Jan. 24, 2010 at 8:24 pm:
Well done. The truth in your poem is astonishing. I must humble myself in asking that you read my work if you have time. If not I understand. Again job well done.
 
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Shirley_R_Kleiner said...
Jan. 2, 2010 at 9:44 am:
I like it, it has nice message, but a couple parts that just don't flow as nicely as I would like, but still, it had such great meaning and depth, that I like it, and say Keep up the good work! My writings are pending, so once they are up here, would you take a peak? Thanks
 
haleyspruitt replied...
Nov. 10, 2010 at 2:11 pm :
You say you are a writer and you spelled peak wrong?
 
Shirley_R_K replied...
Nov. 10, 2010 at 8:01 pm :
It's just a typo... people make mistakes.  Besides, I posted this almost a year ago...
 
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ariwrites94 said...
Nov. 19, 2009 at 8:40 am:
wonderful poem! you are a talented writer!!! keep up the jaw-dropping work :) oh yeah if you have time could you maybe read, comment, and rate my poem called "Sensitive Am I?" Thanx. :)
 
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