Two poems by Langston Hughes:
Harlem
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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?
Likewise
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The Jews:
Groceries
Suits
Fruits
Watches
Diamond rings
THE DAILY NEWS
Jews sell me things.
Yom Kippur, no!
Shops all over Harlem
close up tight that night.
Some folks blame high prices on the Jews
(Some folks blame too much on the Jews.)
But in Harlem they don't answer back,
Just maybe shrug their shoulders,
"What's the use?
in Harlem?
What's the use?
What's the Harlem
use in Harlem?
what's the lick?
Hey!
Baba-re-bop!
Mop!
On a be-bop kick!
Sometimes I think
Jews must have heard
the music of a
dream deferred.
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