Dean Young's 'Clam Ode'

In life today, people tend to over exaggerate the phrases “happy as a clam” and “living the dream.” Dean Young, the author of “Clam Ode”, expresses how he relates to every other American struggling to find happiness in their life but in the end wishing to be comparable to a clam who is content with where he is in life. As humans we have the natural reaction to want more than we already have. We often focus on what is ahead of us or what we could have, rather than appreciating and accepting the pleasantness that we may already have in our life. In Young’s poem he starts off with a sad reflection of how the average person, including himself, handles hardships in their life. Young explains how an individual yearns to be significant in life, but