Episode 49: "Harlem" by Langston Hughes

GoodPoetry

English - November 09, 2021 00:00 - 35 seconds - 770 KB - ★★★★ - 1 rating
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Previous Episode: Episode 48: "Dreams" by Langston Hughes

Next Episode: Episode 50: "Kids Who Die" by Langston Hughes

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Photograph Info:
Portrait of American writer and activist Langston Hughes in 1943 (US Library of Congress Archives)
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The Poem:

"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?