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?
– Langston Hughes
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I think… I think dreams that are too long deferred die, a long, slow wasting death, like cancer — eaten out from the inside — or starvation. They get emaciated, move slower and slower, and start to stink. And then they die.
Michelle, I love the poems you choose! You’ve sent several by poets I used to absolutely love (like Li-Young Lee) and had forgotten about. You’re reawakening me to my old poetry-loving self. Thank you.