HARLEM by Langston Hughes

The poem is entitles "Harlem" but it has an universal value. It spoke to me especially as an immigrant in New York having so many dreams, which some came true and some got "deferred". I don't think you have to be from Harlem or an immigrant to relate to this short and inspirational poem. It's about a dream that was put on hold. The poem starts with a question that seems so simple and mundane but in fact it has such depth. In the attempt to answer it, a series of rhetorical questions follow. The images although simple are very powerful. Hughes uses similes "like a raisin in the sun", "like a sore", "like rotten meat", "like a syrupy sweet" and puts them in contrast. Hughes uses open form; the lengths of the lines differ and some rhymes can be found (sun-run; meat-sweet). The poem has a certain rhythm, almost jazzy. The last stanza isn't made up from a simile but a metaphor "Or does it explode?". The readers are urged to find answers or start questioning what happened to their dreams. It got me thinking...