Dreams and metaphors

 

                                                  Photo by William Bayreuther on Unsplash

Dreams

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

 

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

What are your dreams? Do you even dare to dream in this current situation? The poet Langston Hughes warns us (above) not to let our dreams escape or die.

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his rousing and iconic "I have a dream ..." speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. He told the 250,000 people in the crowd:
"I am not unmindful that you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair ... even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream!"

In the midst of uncertainty, when we seem to have little control over our own lives, we are still allowed to dream for a better, healthier and more peaceful future.

Writing prompt: 

• What are your dreams? Write about those for yourself, your family, friends and the world.
• Do you agree with Hughes and Luther King Jr. that it is still important to dream, even in the face of trials and tribulations?
• Hughes uses the metaphor of life being like a 'broken-winged bird' or a 'barren field frozen with snow' when dreams die. Can you write about when dreams live? What positive metaphors could you use to describe that world?