Harlem : By Langston Hughes

Harlem

By: Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

      Does it dry up

      like a raisin in the sun?

      Or fester like a sore—

      And then run?

      Does it stink like rotten meat?

      Or crust and sugar over—

      like a syrupy sweet?

      Maybe it just sags

      like a heavy load.

      Or does it explode?

 This poem is a great poem by Langston Hughes. It questions what happens when a dream is deferred. He uses words like fester and syrupy to really garnish the poem. through the use of similies he asks if the dream deferred festers like a sore, stinks like rotten meat, or crust and sugar over like syrupy sweet. The poem ends with it saying " Or does it Explode". Wow! The whole poem he is talking about how the dream ends and then the last sentence asks if it becomes a goal or real. The poem motivates people not to let dreams deteriorate. Hughes wants the dreams to explode and become real.