Broken Glass
By Regina Rumford
Aged mocha faced man
gazing blankly at the creature.
Waiting. Curious, naive terrier waits.
Waits for some sort of recognition.
We are all equal.
Aged mocha faced man
eyes blank, numb,
untouchable, without blinking.
Desperate old eyes were stones of unpolished bits of broken glass.
Hopes shattered
Sole tattered
like the dusty blue turban slightly dipped in the empty air.
Vacant gaze penetrates the onlooker
We are all equal.
Humidity lingered parallel with the silence.
Old man’s throat pinched closed like a crushed straw.
Silent language of numbness and despair whispers into the dog’s ears.
Hopes crushed.
We are all equal.
The aged mocha faced man
watched the little terrier walk away.
Are we all equal?
Unaltered Glance By Regina Rumford
Who am I?
No one looks me in the eyes
Sees my pain.
All my hopes are tattered,
beaten away by the dust.
Old and colorless.
I am nobody.
No one sees me, looking at them.
Helplessness.
Lost and forgotten sole.
I blankly look at the dog.
Desperate.
Numb with empty eyes
Like shattered dreams.
Broken shards of bright bits of glass,
Untouchable.
Afraid to see me.
Afraid to see my pain.
Nothingness penetrates
My sole, my heart
Desperate to be seen.
I am nobody.
I am your neighbor.
106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every five seconds.
It is all about perspective. What do you see when you are up close?
What happens when you dig around and really getting into the subject?
What is your perspective when….
Art work by Chris Jordan
…you walk away. Is it the same? What is your point of view now?
WRITE AS MANY STRAIGHTFORWARD
STATEMENTS ABOUT MIGRANT
LABOR WORKERS.
•
•
•
•
Migrant labor workers are
underpaid and treated inhumanely.
 WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE STATEMENT?
•I feel upset with society allowing people to be treated disrespectfully.
•I see sadness in these men’s eyes, hurt and despair and hopelessness.
•Confusion palpitates my brain.
•How can people treat others like animals?
•I am angry that I am not doing something about this situation.
SELECT ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE THE
SITUATION.
Despair, helplessness, numb
USE THE ADJECTIVES TO CREATE IMAGERY.
 The aged mocha faced man gazed at the creamy café colored
terrier dog as if looking at a tissue of paper stuck to the bottom of
a shoe, wondering, how did it get there. The glazed stare
penetrated the sole of the onlooker as if the man was trying to
pass his pain onto the dog. The sense of helplessness whispered
into the ears of the naïve creature, tilting her head she tried to
comfort the man. Without blinking his tortoise green colored
eyes, the dusty blue turban slightly dipped in the empty air. Words
were not spoken, smiles were not exchanged, only the silent
language of numbness and despair was written on the old man’s
weathered face as he watched the little terrier walk away.
WRITE SEVERAL COMPARISONS
USING METAPHORS AND SIMILES.
 SIGHT: His eyes were stones of unpolished bits of broken glass.

SOUND: The empty buzz in ones ears can be mistaken for the
same vibrations of untouched musical instruments safely tucked
away in their boxes.
 TOUCH: The weathered and cracked face felt like dried clay
forgotten and unused.
 SMELL: Heavy and still the dust lingered ready to pounce on its
prey.
 TASTE: Humidity lingered in the air and the old man’s throat
was pinched closed like a bent straw.
WRITE 2 STATEMENTS ABOUT
THE PREVIOUS STATEMENT.
Migrant labor workers are
underpaid and treated inhumanely.
Workers move to Doha with the
impression life will be better.
No matter race, age or social
economical status, we are all
humans, we are all equal.
REWITE ON OF THE PASSAGES IN
AS FEW WORDS AS POSSIBLE
No matter race, age or social economical status, we
are all humans, we are all equal.
 Race, age, social status means equality
 Equality has no barriers
 We are human we are equal
ANY OTHER POETRY ELEMENTS
 Personification
 Onamontapia
 Alliteration
 Repetition
 Rhyming