Today’s Thoughtful Thursday offerings are two classics from Langston Hughes, courtesy of two special guest GCP contributors. To my delight, when I asked my two sons (independently) to tell me their favorite poems, they chose the following two Hughes poems about dreams. These poems are among my favorites as well. Enjoy!
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?
Dreams
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Langston Hughes
