“Incident” by Amiri Baraka

This poem is wonderful and I love the psychological thriller like theme to it. The poem, “Incident” by Amiri Baraka leaves people wondering and mesmerized following each line without a breath. His poem is a mystery being unraveled yet still having one’s guessing what the truth it. The rhythm of the poem is fast, non stopping and one feels like they are watching the scene unfold between the murderous killer and its victim. The narrator describes in great detail the shooting of the victim and how it damages him. The narrator clues in that the victim held a dark soul, “But he died in darkness darker than his soul.” This hints that the victim might have been involved in some sort of scandal that resulted in his death. The killer was mentioned to have stayed to watch the victim die from loss of blood which shows the menacing and horrible mind of the killer. The narrator leaves the reader guessing and wondering the history and the motive behind such a scene.