A dream deferred

Abstract

We pharmacists have many dreams. Our biggest dream is to become a fully clinical profession. I have spelled out my version of this dream before, but, in brief, I dream that providing pharmaceutical care will become the central function, purpose, and responsibility of our entire profession. Counting from the 1985 Hilton Head Conference, this dream is now more than a generation old.1 Universal clinical pharmacy is surely pharmacy’s dream deferred. Having a dream deferred for so long reminds me of a poem by Langston Hughes. As you may know, Hughes was a poet and novelist who was a major part of the Harlem Renaissance. 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? “Harlem (2),” from reference 2, © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.