“The Blue Terrance” is taken from Hayes’s third volume of poems, Wind in a Box (2006). Like “The Blue Terrance,” many of the poems in the collection are formal in structure. Hayes often composes poems in traditional forms such as sonnets and odes; and his poems are unusual in the contemporary milieu in that they can have a very clear, unabashed point of view. His themes remain widespread and current, ranging from popular music, the history of racial violence, and masculinity. The combination of varied influences with his love of form makes it difficult to slot Hayes in a particular literary school. He can be considered a Formalist, yet he is equally a Postmodernist, experimental poet, with his poems mirroring snatches of blues music, dialect, and even political manifestos. Perhaps, the best way to consider Hayes’s poetic craft is that of different literary and cultural traditions in conversation.

This dialogue between many literary traditions is evident through the range of Hayes’s cultural influences. He is heavily influenced by the literary and spiritual legacy of African American poets like Amiri Baraka (1934-2014) and Wanda Coleman (1946-2013), as well as poets from the mainstream traditional canon, from William Shakespeare (1564-1616) to Walt Whitman (1819-1892).