~We have tomorrow right before us like a flame.~

LANGSTON HUGHES

(1902-1967)

~Dream Deferred~

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 just explode?

° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° *

Che succede ad un sogno rinviato?  

Forse si secca  

come un chicco d'uva al sole?  

O come una ferita  

poi macera?  

Ha il fetore della carne putrida?  

O fa la crosta, come un dolce,  

zuccherosa e umida?  

Forse è solo  

un carico pesante.  

O forse scoppierà?  

LANGSTON HUGHES, was part of the Harlem

Renaissance and was known during  his

lifetime as "the poet laureate of Harlem,"

He also worked as a journalist, dramatist,

and children's author.  His poems, which

tell of the joys and  miseries of the

ordinary black man in America,

have been widely translated.