The great American dream
Doesn't seem so great anymore
What do non-Americans think
Of our great American dream?

Greasy food whenever we want it
Couches we can't help but spend the day in
Stars blocked out by electricity
The sun blocked out by pollution

Greedy fingers grabbing at anything shiny
Fast cars
Lazy comfort
Entertainment at our leisure

In other words
A cultural wasteland
Where the only dreams are
Money
A life of ease
And fame

But what about that other dream?
The one people crossed oceans for
And still do?
The one that built a nation
And kept it together
Through every catastrophe
Thinkable and unthinkable?

What about the dream
That we sing about
Write about
Dream about?

The first idea
That maybe man was created equal
And maybe every man deserved
Equal

And then not just every man
But every woman
Every person who dared take the leap
To call themselves an American
Equal

To speak what we think
And believe what we know is right
And protest what we know is wrong

To raise a family
And work hard
And be rewarded

To work the land
And watch it grow
And take care of it

To rise from the very bottom
To take charge of one's circumstances
To live one's own life

To be innovative
Ingenious
Pioneering

To go where no one else has gone
And do what no one else has done

To reach out a hand to the fallen
And a heart to the broken

To spread the hard earned
Coveted wealth
With the nations

To eat apple pie
And ice cream
And watch fireworks
And celebrate the conception of such absurdities

Perhaps that's the real American dream
Crazy? Maybe
Or maybe
Just maybe
It's still great