Troubled Woman

Students read Troubled Woman by Langston Hughes.

Troubled Woman

She stands
In the quiet darkness
This troubled woman
Bowed by weariness and pain
Like an
Autumn flower
In the frozen rain,
Like a
Wind-blown autumn flower
That never lifts its head
Again.

After discussing Hughes's use of simile, students write their own poem modeled on Troubled Woman. Poems generated by this model include:

The Junkie by Steven Wong* *award-winning
He staggers
Into alleys of illusion
This wind-blown junkie
Angled by craggy veins
Like a
Helpless tumbleweed,
Like a
Crumpled, rain-streaked sheaf
Of yesterday's News.


The Old Man by Deborah Varner

He sits
In the stillness
Of his room
This old man
Crippled by
Age and loneliness
Like an
Aged tree
That can produce no fruit
Like the
Last living tree
In an eroding field.