American Dreams
I
Dreams of new realms, refuge outside
The scepter’s and the crozier’s reach:
Dour, black-clad zealots braved the seas,
The cold, gray waves, the churning tide,
To glimpse upon that distant beach
A hostile waste where north blasts freeze—
An untamed, virgin world to build
Their Shining City on a Hill.
Slowly it rose and flourished, filled
With light and learning, thrift and skill.
II
Dreams of a new home: pioneers
Glimpsed Mississippi’s farther shore,
Saw empty, endless plains unfold
Towards fabled sunset lands, frontiers
Where streams hid gold and mountains ore,
And kind earth bore a hundredfold.
Through raging flood and snow-capped peak
And burning waste and warring band
Of hostile braves they trekked to seek
And found at last their promised land.
III
Dreams of new life: tired eyes beheld
The bronze colossus hold her flame
Aloft to greet great human streams—
Slow steamers, ocean-tossed, that held
Hordes of uprooted folk who came
With nothing but strength, will, and dreams.
Behind them, dynasts’ ancient strife;
Their ancient tongues and tribes behind.
Theirs was new land, new tongue, new life—
New worlds to build, new life to find.
IV
Dreams of new heights: mind, will, and hand
Wrought works of steel that proudly bore
A people to whom dreams gave birth
Flying across their once-wild land,
Into the very skies, to soar
Above the clouds, across the Earth,
And far beyond, to loose Earth’s bond
And kiss the heaven-spangling stars,
Ever upward, ever beyond!
The dream remains! The quest is ours!
Adam Sedia (b. 1984) lives in his native Northwest Indiana and practices law as a civil and appellate litigator. He has published four books of poetry and his poems, essays, and fiction have appeared in various literary journals. He is also a composer, and his musical works may be heard on his YouTube channel.
These are dreams indeed, Adam, and distinctively American, in the sense of aspiration. In relatively few lines you give an impressive summary of major themes in American history. And what a history it is, well worth pondering. We cannot help but feel a certain exhilaration in your telling. It seems America offered a scope for aspiration that the Old World did not. Now we are onward to the stars, though to what extent that will be possible I don’t know. There is, in any case, a grandeur in the sheer reaching for something better, and your strong, stately verses make that clear. It’s good to read poetry with spirit like this.
Thank you, Bhikku. When I was writing this, I began by asking myself, “What is America?” I thought of my ancestors and the millions of others who came here in various ways, and it was obvious: if nothing else, America is the nation built up from nothing by visions of those bold enough to build. It took different forms — religious and political freedom, economic advancement, sheer exploration — but all of them were building a dream. I wanted to capture that, and I thank you for appreciating it.
The key is “The dream remains! The quest is ours!” The future is up to hard-working, right-thinking people.
A fantastically good piece, Adam.
Very inspiring, Adam.
I enjoyed this rousing poem, Adam. Past and present pioneers thrill me. Risking it all, they launch their quests. Some big adventures await in microscopic precincts, as well.
Here the microscopic and the macroscopic meet. I am reminded of every bluegrass gospel song I ever listened to: Always hope for a better future. It is so easy for us in our air-conditioned homes to take for granted what were and are the dreams of so many. And I am strangely reminded of a few lines from Don Paterson’s “Web”:
[A] man might wonder, as he crossed the street,
What it was that broke across his brow
Or vanished on his tongue and left it sweet.
Thank you. Facing the blank page was daunting; I wanted to capture a concept so massive in a few lines, and settled on four vignettes that I thought captured what I wanted to convey. I thank you for recognizing that, as well as noting the hardship our ancestors face. My own were among those crammed on the steamboats in the third section, and I can only imagine what it was like for them crossing the sea to a new language and culture in many ways hostile to them, and yet they built alongside all the other dreamers.
That’s the spirit, Adam! Your usual exceptional job.
Superb! And so uplifting.
“The dream remains! The quest is ours!”… Bravo
You “American Dreams” look beyond division and despair, Adam. And in doing so, your poem links Americans to the many forbears who were dreamers, including some who didn’t realize the dream. Part IV, though worded quite differently, reminds me very much of the feeling President Reagan meant to evoke in his words to the nation after the Challenger disaster–inspiring confidence in the face of loss that corresponds to the tribulations and uncertainties you mention.
Thank you! I wanted to capture something of Reaganesque optimism to celebrate the 250th amid all the gloom and malaise. We have much to celebrate, and the uniqueness and boldness of our story deserves celebrating.
Uplifting and powerful – excellent poetry. Well done Adam.
Adam, I love the structure and the progression of this poem together with the excellent use of repetition. You paint the history of America in thought-provoking and heart-touching words that say much with brevity, beauty, and an ear-pleasing musicality – your “bronze colossus” is especially striking for its sound and imagery. I particularly like the closing lines and as a relatively new citizen, your poem makes me proud to be one of y’all. Very well done indeed!
Thank you! The I wrote the “bronze colossus” section with particular enthusiasm, as most of my own ancestors were on the boats that she gazed upon a little over a hundred years ago. Could they, poor, humble, mostly illiterate, and facing real discrimination, have imagined what their children would make of their adopted homeland? But that’s the story of America writ large: giving up the old to build the new.
Congrats on your Finalist win Adam, such an excellently-wrought and powerful poem!