What I Will

What I Will.

I will not dance to your war drum.

Hammad pauses after the word "dance", immediately disrupting conventional poetry expectations; this effect makes the poem formless and a piece of protest poetry.

I will not lend my soul nor my bones to your war drum.

I will not dance to that beating.

I know that beat.

A short line disrupts the poem's flow, drawing attention to itself. Additionally, Hammad says this line with an American-style tone reminiscent of Black-centered rap and hip-hop practices; this reveals a geographical and cultural context which influences her poem's sound.

It is lifeless.

This line happens slower as if to underline itself. The word "lifeless" is separately stressed by the syllable. Furthermore, the line breaks from Hammad's expressive style with a robotic tone, possibly showing non-expressive poetry as dead and conformist.

I know intimately that skin you are hitting.

It was alive once; hunted, stolen, stretched.

Hammad lowers her pitch on "was" but heightens it on "alive," bringing a contrasting lightness to the second word. There are pauses between "once," "hunted," "stolen," and "stretched"; this slows the tempo down to highlight the verbs of the poem.

I will not dance to your drummed up war.

The word "up" is louder, perhaps a call to attention.

I will not pop, spin, break for you.

There are sharp breaths between "pop", "spin", and "break", which makes the actions of war sound exhaustive. Moreover, this phrase is reminiscent of Black rooted hip-hop.

I will not hate for you or even hate you.

Hammad says the last "you" with a higher pitch and gives the aural impression of a resolution or epiphany. This choice breaks her down-pitched habit when ending her lines.

I will not kill for you.

Factual and definite in tone through Hammad's return to a lower pitch at the end of her line. The word "kill" is stretched. The shortness seems like another disruption from the flow of this poem, as seen prior with "I know that beat" in the fourth line.

Especially, I will not die for you

Hammad sustains the word "die" to accentuate it.

I will not mourn the dead with murder nor suicide.

Hammad quickens the pace, expressing a sense of urgency.

I will not side with you or dance to bombs because everyone is dancing.

Everyone can be wrong.

This line is spoken slowly to underline itself, leaving space before and after. Using disruption again, Hammad creates a sign of originality from the beat of war conformists. Moreover, Hammad says it factually with a low pitch at the end.

Life is a right, not collateral or casual.

Hammad takes sharp breaths in this line.

I will not forget where I come from.

This line happens quickly and sounds staccato. Hammad disrupts the flow, once more, for a moment of declaration and protestation.

I will craft my own drum

There is an emphasis on "will" and "own" in another possible declaration from the conformists of the war drum.

Gather my beloved near, and our chanting will be dancing.

Hammad has a higher pitch on the word "chanting" and a lower one on "drumming." I find that she highlights what she deems good (higher pitch) versus bad (lower pitch).

Our humming will be drumming.

Again, Hammad has a higher pitch for humming and a lower one for drumming.

I will not be played.

Hammad says this slowly, again using a short line to cut into the poem. An amplitude emphasis happens on "I," "not," and "played," sounding conclusive and absolute. Moreover, with each of these words, the pitch gets lower and lower, giving a sense of seriousness. This line also carries Hammad's American tone and slang, again showing her perspective on war conformity as an American through sound.

I will not lend my name nor my rhythm to your beat.

I will dance and resist and dance and persist and dance.

Hammad quickens the tempo. The sound of her words gives a shortly lived rhythm through the higher-pitched "dance" to the lower-pitched "persist" and again with "dance" to "resist," creating a new tempo.

This heartbeat is louder than death.

This line is immediately slower than the last, breaking Hammad's flow and bringing attention to her words. Additionally, each word lowers in pitch.

Your war drum ain't louder than this breath.

Hammad pauses after "drum", "ain't louder", "than this" and "breath". Her pitch lowers and her amplitude quietens with each word, drawing in the listener; however, the word "breath" sustains the pitch, breaking the pattern. Moreover, the word "ain't" brings back an American influenced sound experience.

Breath noise.

What's up Ted people? Let me hear some noise.

Hammad's voice carries the sound of modern American speech again through slang, linked back to rap and Black culture in its roots.

Cheering.

A bunch of pacifists.

Confused, aspiring pacifists.

I understand.

Hammad says "understand" like understan, dropping the last d. Again, this hints at the culture she grew up around with the accent she has.