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
Formerly alive, the dream now rots. What was vital has become putrid. The “stink” may imply resentment or a corruption of the character as a result of lifelong frustration. 

Harlem What happens to a dream deferred?