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 Jun. 3 2014 at 9:33 pm
AbigailGilgal GOLD, Cloquet, Minnesota
12 articles 0 photos 40 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I write for the same reason I breath- because if I didn't, I would die"
~Isaac Asimov

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed."
~ Ernest Hemingway

K, I really like the poem but did you mean to run those words together? Or is it a typo? A little confused here

on Mar. 18 2014 at 12:06 pm
RanaHewezi1998 SILVER, Ames, Iowa
5 articles 0 photos 63 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be."
-Douglas Adams

Wow incredible! Keep up the good work :D

on Feb. 24 2014 at 10:04 am
Zballer23 BRONZE, Kings Mountain, North Carolina
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
great read

on Dec. 21 2013 at 9:55 pm
laurensoccer SILVER, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
8 articles 0 photos 67 comments
I could really picture everything that was said! I love the vivid imagery!

KingFoe SILVER said...
on Nov. 6 2013 at 5:19 pm
KingFoe SILVER, Morristown, New Jersey
6 articles 0 photos 42 comments
The last stanza is the best, but the rest of it doesn't seem to flow entirely (message wise, not in words). But all in all it's a pretty great poem.

Mark said...
on Oct. 7 2013 at 9:56 pm
Love it! Great peom!!!

YDUJYOT said...
on Aug. 30 2013 at 4:59 pm
I LOVE THE LAST STANZA

on Jul. 19 2013 at 6:59 pm
RanaHewezi1998 SILVER, Ames, Iowa
5 articles 0 photos 63 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be."
-Douglas Adams

wow that was really deep and thought out. Great job :D

on Apr. 22 2013 at 11:00 pm
OurVoices PLATINUM, Merrimac, Massachusetts
31 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are" - e.e. cummings

you are literally amazing. this is literally amazing. im at a loss for words here. 

on Mar. 11 2013 at 3:24 pm
FloridaGeorgiaDirectioner SILVER, Talking Rock, Georgia
5 articles 7 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
May the odds be ever in your favor.

Really great poem!

on Feb. 18 2013 at 10:34 pm
theatregirl PLATINUM, Lathrup Village, Michigan
30 articles 12 photos 209 comments

Favorite Quote:
"To thine own self be true," -from Hamlet, a play by Shakespeare.
"I have sworn on the altar of god eternal hostility against all forms of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson

Great poem! It really deep, especially compare moat teenage poem. I like all the description like "double wide trailer" compare to "double wide mansions". Great work, keep writing

on Jan. 5 2013 at 8:51 pm
satellite23 GOLD, Cincinnati, Ohio
14 articles 0 photos 100 comments

Favorite Quote:
Prove it.

This poem intrigues me, but I must ask what the combined words are for.

mj914 said...
on Sep. 22 2012 at 8:34 am
Hey! i was wondering if i could use your poem for a school assignment which was to find a poem that represents the american dream

on May. 31 2012 at 1:37 am
Kenziemcm13 PLATINUM, Rutherfordton, North Carolina
36 articles 5 photos 38 comments

Favorite Quote:
A simple story can tell an entire story!~~ ME
Pictures tell a 1000 words~IDK :P

Great peice of work! Loved it! Absolutely loved it! May I ask that you read a few of mine they are not nearly as good but I would be honored if you read them and commented what I could do better? Please! :)

angel.stec said...
on Apr. 30 2012 at 11:10 am
I love the last lines. Can I quote it in a paper for school? 

on Mar. 26 2012 at 11:27 am
AnarchyUnbound PLATINUM, Norwich, Connecticut
23 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
Life's a b****, but if it was a slut, it'd be too easy. - Tori Burgess

Nicely done. I give it a 5/5 rating because it's relative and well written. Keep up the good work.

on Mar. 26 2012 at 12:23 am
ImJustAGuy BRONZE, Oakland, California
2 articles 0 photos 22 comments
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

Gaho said...
on Mar. 22 2012 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 ^^


WhyNot GOLD said...
on Jan. 20 2012 at 11:09 pm
WhyNot GOLD, Lake Stevens, Washington
10 articles 6 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
~yesterday is history, tomarrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. that is why they call it the present.
~I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that don't work.- thomas edison
~There are no accidents

This is the most truthful work of art I have seen yet. I love it!!!!

on Dec. 31 2011 at 4:00 pm
garthgirl8888 BRONZE, Long Beach, California
2 articles 0 photos 20 comments
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.