Remember by: Nathan Goldman

Remember:we weren't all born with dreams like yours.
Back home, when I walked down the street, I had to keep watch for baseball bats and shrapnel daggers out of the corners of my eyes.And when I got home, I ate bread crumbs and peanut butter and went to bed empty and scared.And in the morning I went to look for work, but I wouldn't get work.Just saliva in my eyes.
I dreamt of a home that was better.I dreamt of eating my share,working for a wage,not having to keep watch out of the corners of my eyes.
You say you want to be an artist.That you dream of secret fame of awed faces and huddled minor masses.You dream of creating things and making men cry because yes, this is beautiful.
All right! Dream.
Just remember how I dreamt of filling my emptiness.How I worked, sweated, bled.To rise up and grasp my dream.To earn those seeds to plant in the family's dream scape.
And remember how I tended them for your mother, and for you so those seeds would grow, and bear fruit for you so you could dream things I didn't know could be dreamt.
I don't mean you owe me anything or you shouldn't take things for granted or I envy you or Just remember.


This poem is about not letting go of your heritage if you're an immigrant. It also tells about how bad life was in a country. In the third and forth line, it says "I ate bread crumbs and peanut butter and went to bed empty and scared." This suggests that the narrator is so poor that he has to eat almost nothing and that is scared of the future and what will become of him. This poem is about how hard it is to make your dreams come true and how easy it is to just imagine the perfect life. He says "I dreamt of a home that was better...All right! Dream. Just remember how I dreamt of filling my emptiness. How I worked, sweated, bled. To rise up and grasp my dream." He is talking about how he dreamed of having a better life and having to work, sweat, and bleed for it. I think ultimately, this is about how he hated life back home and dreamed of a better life. He immigrated to another country and is still having some trouble achieving his dream. He is telling people that just because you hear stories of success by immigrating to another country doesn't mean you should believe them. In his case, he believed a story and failed to fulfil his dream. He wants to remember everything he went through to be where he is now.