'Like a broken-winged bird'

 

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes

Hughes, a poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist, was born Feb. 1, 1902 in Joplin, Mo., and became world famous as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance Movement in New York City.   His poetry and fiction portrayed the lives of the working-class blacks in America as full of struggle, joy, laughter, music, and pride in the African-American identity and its diverse culture.    For Saturday’s Poem, here is Hughes’,

                                                 I Dream A World

I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free.
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!