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Harlem
[Dream Deferred]
Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
One of the leading writers of the
Harlem Renaissance, Hughes here blends the rythms of black oral
tradition with undertones of jazz and blues to express his powerful
message.
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?
I WAS THAT CHILD
by Mary Darkeff, 1993
I was the child that you never loved
I was the child you never thought of
I was the child that needed you
I was the child that you never knew
I was too dark
I was too fat
I was too anything
I was too bad
I lost a father I never had
I was that child.
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