dreams

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?


I've had this poem running through my head for the past couple of days. Not quite sure what that means, as I'm still sorting out what my dreams are... but here's a trip back to middle school/high school for you. For the record, Mr. Hughes, I think dreams crumble in fragments, barely recognizable, until the dust begins to float quietly away with the wind.