Surangi Perera: Antoine Dodson Poem
I thought it was a bold choice to write from the perpetrator's perspective. There is a lot of musicality to the phrasing which I particularly enjoyed, and some startling imagery, unexpected despite knowing this was the would-be-rapist's voice, that added enormous punch to the poem. The awareness that the narrator had in his fateful influence over Dodson's life was a fantastic end, just beautifully done. My critique would be that perhaps you could fit more context into the break between the narrator running for his life and the onrush of the news media and the narrator's reflection on Dodson, after the line that ends with "leaving my signature behind." Perhaps another line or two at the beginning or else a title referencing the fact that the perp is the narrator, would help to give the reader more context as well. Since I know the story, it works wonderfully for me, but someone who doesn't know the story might not get the same impact. Good job!
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