For if dreams die

Life is a broke-winged bird

That cannot fly

 

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

 

Saltman, Judith, editor. 1985. The Riverside Anthology of Children's Literature, sixth edition.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin.  ISBN 039535773X.

 

As an extension of this poem, have the children attempt to write a metaphor in the same style as Langston Hughes.  It can be about anything - school, food, dogs, family, life - anything!  The main emphasis should be on making language "work" for the writer.