"Harlem" - Langston Hughes

(Look up the words in green if you do not know the definition)

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?



After reading "Harlem" what connections can you make to yourself and this poem? (Respond with 3-5 complete sentences)?