Langston Hughes

Dream Boogie

Good morning, daddy! Ain't you heard The boogie-woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely: You'll hear their feet Beating out and beating out a — You think It's a happy beat? Listen to it closely: Ain't you heard something underneath like a — What did I say? Sure, I'm happy! Take it away! Hey, pop! Re-bop! Mop! Y-e-a-h! Hughes himself says that the book from which this comes "Montage of a Dream Deferred" (1951) should be viewed as a complete poem in itself and not a collection of short poems.