An Immigrant's Hymn

A resident of one country, a citizen of none;

Trudging along a path carved in a land not of his birth;

A second class citizen of a first world country--

the birthplace of liberty, freedom and democracy and the deathbed of idealism;

The American Dream for the un-American.

Restructuring of a caste system long condemned;

Upheld by a system that condones exploitation;

Blacks, whites, and browns; in a melting pot of supremacy and servitude;

One race will rule, the rest will succumb;

The equality of unequals;

The perpetuation of an ordered society no longer structured;

The land of the free and the lost.

Walls are thin

Our neighbor painfully reminded us that the apartment walls are thin by blasting foreign music/noise through their speakers at a time when peace and quiet were prefered. Reduced to juvenile logic, I tried to remind them as well of this apartment feature that we share. It didn't work, of course. If anything, it made matters worse. Decibel per decibel, our sound system is far superior. But I was fearing backlash from innocent neighbors, who I was hoping would have enough balls to confront the offending neighbor and tell them to pipe down the noise. Because if innocent neighbors would not have the balls, who would?

To the offending and offensive neighbor's credit, they don't sustain the ruckus past 10pm. But since I am a student trying to maintain a scholarship, this neigborly consideration means zilch. I need peace and quiet at all times that I am in the premises for God knows the scholarly inclination to read might strike me at any given moment. My innocent neighbors better gather their chutzpah and confront the offending neighbor sooner rather than later.

Freedom & Liberty

H: I didn't remove the plastic wrappings from the TV's side panels because I have always been told not to do so.
M: Yeah, I have been told the same thing.
--Pause--
M: So, let's remove them.
H: Yeah, it's...
--in unison--
...our house and we can do whatever we want.