American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin [“Probably twilight ...”]

“American Sonnet: 91“ by Wanda Coleman (2001)

Terrance Hayes bases his American sonnet form on Coleman’s. While this poem resembles Hayes’s American sonnets in its internal rhyme, alliterative patterns, and sprung rhythms, the two poets differ in voice and pacing, though Coleman's sonnet also blends the personal and public.

“American Sonnet for Wanda C.“ by Terrance Hayes (2015)

Before American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, Hayes wrote this American sonnet for Wanda Coleman, the form’s originator. More specific and narrative than his sonnets for the Assassin, this tribute follows more closely Coleman’s model of dynamic rhythm and internal rhyme.

“The Golden Shovel" by Terrance Hayes (2010)

Hayes invented the “golden shovel” form in this tribute to Gwendolyn Brooks. The form uses the words of the source poem (in this case, Brooks’ “We Real Cool”) as end words for each line of the new poem.

“The Politics and Play of Terrance Hayes“ by Dan Chiasson (2018)

Chiasson examines Hayes’s form, technique, and subject within the context of current American politics and culture.

“The Wicked Candor of Wanda Coleman“ by Terrance Hayes (2020)

Hayes’s essay on Wanda Coleman, whose influence figures prominently in American Sonnets for My Past and Future Executioner, illuminates his own work as well.