Martin Luther King’s dreams defined him. One of his dreams was
“… that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
The poem, What Happens to a Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes is a perfect tribute to a man whose legacy is his dreams. Martin Luther King would have been 22 years old when Hughes wrote the poem.
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?
~Langston Hughes