The Days :: essays research papers

It all happened so fast; it felt like a dream. I wish I could tell everybody my story but no one is listening now. Yeah, that was the best: the dreams we had. Nothing mattered except for those otherworldly dreams. Every day, Louie and I would wake up, whether it be in a high school boiler room or a urine-soaked alley, and talk about what we dreamt. He used to always have dreams with that Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters in them. We talked about it for a while and came to the conclusion that Louie probably just wanted to sleep on a pillow. A long time ago I had a dream that Louie and I were rabid monsters and we beat each other into bloody pulps. We had a good laugh about that one. That's what kept us going day after day: dreams. Well, dreams and our "business partnership." See, we didn't hobble up to you like sick dogs and beg you for a nickel or a cigarette. We took whatever the hell you had on you. We were so good at it, too. It was all about picking the right people at the right time. Friday nights, we used to drink a 12-pack and approach people in a raging frenzy using a toy squirtgun as a concealed weapon. It was hilarious. Don't get me wrong, though: being nineteen and homeless wasn't "fun." Checking 45 year old women's pockets for money was the closest I had been to getting some in three years. I looked like the garbage that I slept in. The only time I showered was when Louie and I could afford to rent a cheap hotel room for the night. But above all, Louie and I hated being cold. Those biting Detroit winters used to suck the life out of us and not give it back until April. The date and time didn't matter in the winter; all that mattered was that you were cold. Our dreams really did keep us alive at those times. Your mind is all you've got when the rest of your limbs are numb with frostbite and hunger pulsates through your body. Louie was such a great guy. I just wish I could go back down there and talk to him. We could talk about nothing for hours upon hours. Louie would make me forget that I hadn't eaten in two days. In February, we would get wasted in parking structures and take turns smac king each other across the face until the pain and laughter made the cold go away.

A Marriage Quite Like an Arch Essay

John Ciardi’s poem â€Å"Most Like an Arch This Marriage†. Ciardi uses symbolism, similes, metaphors, and imagery when comparing marriage to an arch. Marriage is about strength, when two connections come together and meet each other in the middle to form a strong bond as they uphold one another. The poem describes marriage as an archway that can withstand the forces of nature and gain its strength from two pillars that come together at one point. In the first quatrain, the speaker turns to the description of how a marriage is like an arch, using formal diction to illustrate an image in the reader’s mind with similes, â€Å"Most like an arch–an entrance which upholds† (Line 1). Both sides of an arch hold an entrance up; an arch is typically a â€Å"curved structural member spanning an opening and serving as a support† (â€Å"Arch† Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 1 June 2014). â€Å"Mass made idea, and idea held in place; A lock in time; Inside half-heaven unfolds† (3-4). Passion a man has for his woman is sealed by the bond of marriage, a sacred bond â€Å"locked in time†, â€Å"inside half-heaven†, a marriage searches for unity and perfection. In the second quatrain, the speaker compares two weaknesses, two fallings, two joined abeyances that mold into one strength. â€Å"Most like an arch–two weaknesses that lean into a strength; two falling become firm / Two joined abeyances become a term naming the fact that teaches fact to mean† (5-8). Two individuals leading a single life have many obstacles to face, but when the two individuals conjoin they become stronger as one, and as one they can tackle whatever obstacle that is thrown their way as long as they’re united. In the third quatrain, the speaker portrays a longing, a need between two strengths. â€Å"Not quite that? Not much less. World as it is, what’s strong and separate falter† (9-10). A strayed individual maybe strong, but walking alone makes that individual weak. â€Å"All I do, at piling stone on stone apart  from you is roofless around nothing. Till we kiss† (11-12). â€Å"Piling stone on stone†, building a wall between them, when you are apart from your significant other it feels like an eternity, like you are missing your other half, â€Å"apart from you is roofless around nothing† (11-12). â€Å"Till we kiss† (12), the separation feels like an eternity until we kiss, and then it feels like we are whole again. In the final quatrain, the speaker explains that even though couples are flawed, they are together through thick and thin. â€Å"It is by falling in and in we make the all-bearing point, for one another’s sake, in faultless failing, raised by our own weight† (14-16). Each person is going to have their faults and at times both people may fail in something together, but it is with the love and strength of their marriage that they are able to rise up from whatever obstacle and be stronger for having gone through it together.

The Role of Mexican-American Border Relations in the...

The Role of Mexican-American Border Relations in the Political Process Throughout the 1990’s up until the present, Mexican-American political relations have been very inconsistent in their endeavors to define what the relationship should and will be between the two different countries. The massive influx of Mexican immigrants has commanded attention from the governments of both countries. This has resulted in attempts to make a working partnership acknowledging the fact that the peoples of Mexican decent have grown into the largest minority group in the United States and there are many issues to be hammered out by both countries in establishing just economic and political relations. However this effort has encountered many setbacks†¦show more content†¦The 1990’s: A Political of war on Mexicans in California The early 1990’s suffered poor economic situations in the United States. The blame had to be put somewhere so Governor Pete Wilson of California decided to vocally address this issue with his proposed Proposition 187 in 1994. At this time California was facing economic recession and adamantly felt that the massive immigration of illegal immigrants from Mexico was the primary reason for residents’ economic struggles. Proposition 187, promoted as the â€Å"Save Our State† initiative, called for a dismissal of the availability of public service such as education and health care to illegal immigrants. It also aided in their deportation, as people such as nurses and teachers would be required to report suspected illegal immigrants to authorities. This initiative was able to pass even though public rhetoric of the opposition repeatedly called the supporters of Proposition 187 racists. The economic concerns of the California residents were that the illegal immigrants were taking too many of the state’s resources in a time where resources weren’t plentiful. One economic anxiety of the residents during this time focused on the destruction of their communities from the crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Many residents, especially those in the San Diego area, attribute vandalization and robbery in their communities to illegalShow MoreRelatedAbraham Lincoln s The Argument Against The War1182 Words   |  5 Pagesagainst the war? When Lincoln was a Congressman in the House of Representatives, during his short term, he loudly opposed the Mexican war held in 1846. His main argument was that the war was unconstitutional and unnecessary and was based on a lie. He faced severe criticism from fellow Whigs including other congressmen for raising voice against the USA intervention in the Mexican territory and promotion of slavery there. 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