As I grew older by Langston Hughes
A short summary
Post reading​

The speaker starts by describing a dream he used to have a “long time ago” that he has since nearly forgotten. Back then, however, it was right in front of him, bright like a “sun-dream.” A wall rose up slowly between the speaker and his dream - it rose and rose until it touched the sky. The wall is a shadow.

The speaker proclaims, “I am black.” He lies down in the shadows, which prevent the light of the dream from shining on him. All he can see is the “thick” wall and the shadow.

He cries, “My hands! / My dark hands!” He wants to break through the wall and find his dream; he wants to break apart the darkness and “smash” the night. He wants that shadow to break apart into a “thousand lights of sun” and “a thousand whirling dreams / of sun!”