American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin ["I lock you in..."]

The poem is a contemporary sonnet, consisting of 14 unrhymed lines, with most lines containing at least ten syllabic sounds. This is at least partly in keeping with the iambic pentameter of a traditional sonnet, where each line containing five pairs of a “da-dum” beat. While the poem does not follow this strict metrical pattern, it does have a regular beat, which gives it a surprising musicality. At times, the beat is reminiscent of a piece of hip-hop which, like the American sonnet, is another Black American art form.

The poem’s musicality is emphasized by auditory devices such as alliteration. Alliteration occurs in Lines 1-2, with the repeated “p” sounds of the phrases, “part prison” and “part panic closet.” The harsh, explosive “p” sounds draw attention to the words in question – part, prison, and panic, each somehow defining the speaker and the “you.” The poem also uses repetition. The phrase “I lock” is repeated in Lines 1, 3, and 6 producing an incantatory rhythmic effect. Assonance occurs through repeated “o” sounds – the broad “o” recurs through the poem in words like “lock” (1,3,6), “sonnet” (Line 1), “box” (Line 3), and “song” (Line 4), while the longer “o” sound is repeated in words like “bone” (line 4), “hold” (Line 5) and “crow” (Line 7).