Harlem
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?
The Artists' Sanctum 
Interesting. From my experience, dreams stay dreams until you decide to live them. No drying out or exploding ever happens, because dreams don’t age.
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Here, I think he was referring to the dreams of a people. The poem is entitled Harlem, and I believe he was talking about the dream of his people for prosperity and equality. If such dreams are deferred too long, they can explode into action, violence, revolution.
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Yes, true.
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