![]() ![]() ![]() In promotional material for American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, Penguin Random House boasts that Hayes wrote the entirety of the book, which comprises 70 sonnets, within the first 200 days of the Trump presidency. In his poetry collection American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, Terrance Hayes has not exactly painted a rooster (and he has certainly not done so at the bidding of any king), but like the painter in the story, he has done good work, and quickly. One of the story’s morals is that it takes long practice to do good work quickly. ![]() By way of answer, the artist leads the king to his studio, which is littered, floor to ceiling, with paintings of roosters. The king demands to know why the artist asked for so much time and money when he was able to complete the painting in mere moments. The artist produces a blank canvas and, on the spot, paints a perfect likeness of a rooster. At the end of the allotted year, the king visits the artist’s home and asks for the painting. ![]() The artist requests a year in which to complete the work. In the old story, a king summons an artist to his court and commissions a painting of his favorite bird, the rooster. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 88pp., $19.95) American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin ![]()
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