Harlem (poem) - Wikipedia
Harlem
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?[1]
Refs
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_(poem)
- Hughes (1951) Montage of a Dream Deferred, {Henry Holt and Company}.