Dear Future Generations: Sorry

“Dear Future Generations: Sorry” is a free verse poem divided into five stanzas, and performed as a filmed, spoken word piece. The poem uses many rhythmical elements such as rhyme, variations in rhythm, and repetition. End rhyme is used throughout “Dear Future Generations: Sorry” to propel the piece forward and create music, rhythm, and flow. For example, in the start of the poem, the speaker states, “I hope you forgive us / We just didn’t realize how special the earth was” (Lines 7-8). These two lines end in a rhyme “us,” (Line 7) and “was” (Line 8). Similarly, the speaker repeats this in the following two lines when he states, “Like a marriage going wrong / We didn’t know what we had until it was gone” (Lines 9-10). Again, the speaker relies on end rhymes “wrong,” (Line 9) and “gone,” (Line 10) to create music in the poem.

By varying the placement of the end rhymes and internal rhymes–some come one right after the other, while some lines do not have end or internal rhymes for several lines. In this way, Prince Ea creates a feeling of suspension.