Harlem
a poem 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?
NOTE:
Langston Hughes, “Harlem” from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc.
Latest posts by Spillwords (see all)
- Bonny Dundee - December 7, 2025
- Snowdrops - November 30, 2025
- A Pilgrim’s Way - November 23, 2025



