A+Dream+Deferred+Poem

"A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes

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?

A "dream" is an abstract thing--it is not tangible (in most cases). It cannot be seen nor touched, yet this "dream" is deferred, or shelved. Langston Hughes questions what happens when one's dream is shelved. By utilizing descriptive language and rhetorical questions, Langston Hughes paints a pessimistic picture of what happens to that dream.

Your task is to choose another abstract "thing" (love, hate, time, peace, faith, etc) and question what happens to that dream under a certain "deferred" circumstance. I suggest you model your poem closely off of Hughes' original--this will make your poem easier to draft.

Good luck!