Dreams Deferred

Langston Hughes was wrong.

I never thought that until recently but he really was. He was definitely a smart man but he spent an entire poem trying to figure out what happens to a dream deferred. Dreams deferred do not dry up, fester or run. They do not stink, crust over or sag. And they certainly do not explode.

What happens to dreams deferred is that they breed contempt and disillusionment.

I have had many a dream deferred. Only they are never really deferred. They are filed away under things not yet accomplished and wait for me to one day pull them out to complete them. As the cabinet gets more and more filled you feel worse and worse and no longer know what to think about life.

That is what happens. If I could tell the man myself. I would give him a piece of my mind.

Dear Langston Hughes, dreams deferred do not themselves explode, but they make the people who have them do so with ease. Rest in peace, your question has been answered.

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