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As a boy I shared a game with my father. Played it every morning ‘til I was 3.
He would knock knock on my door, and I’d pretend to be asleep
‘til he got right next to the bed, Then I would get up and jump into his arms.
“Good morning, Papa.” And my papa he would tell me that he loved me. We shared
a game. Knock knock.
Until that day when the knock never came and my momma takes me on a ride past
corn fields on this never ending highway ‘til we reach a place of high rusty gates.
A confused little boy, I entered the building carried in my mama’s arms. Knock
knock. We reach a room of windows and brown faces behind one of the windows
sits my father. I jump out of my mama’s arms and run joyously towards my papa
Only to be confronted by this window. I knock knock trying to break through the
glass, trying to get to my father. I knock knock as my mama pulls me away
before my papa even says a word.
And for years he never said a word. And so twenty-five years later, I write these
words for the little boy in me who still awaits his papa’s knock.
Papa, come home ‘cause I miss you. I miss you waking me up in the morning and
telling me you love me. Papa, come home, ‘cause there’s things I don’t know, and I
thought maybe you could teach me. how to shave; how to dribble a ball; how to
talk to a lady; how to walk like a man. Papa, come home because I decided a
while back I wanted to be just like you. But I’m forgetting who you are.
And twenty-five years later a little boy cries, and so I write these words and try
to heal and try to father myself and I dream up a father who says the words my
father did not.
Dear Son,
I’m sorry I never came home. For every lesson I failed to teach, hear these words:
Shave in one direction in strong deliberate strokes to avoid irritation
Dribble the page with the brilliance of your ballpoint pen. Walk like a god and
your goddess will come to you. No longer will I be there to knock on your door, So
you must learn to knock for yourself.
Knock knock down doors of racism and poverty that I could not. Knock knock down
doors of opportunity for the lost brilliance of the black men who crowd these cells.
Knock knock with diligence for the sake of your children.
Knock knock for me for as long as you are free, these prison gates cannot contain
my spirit. The best of me still lives in you. Knock knock with the knowledge that
you are my son, but you are not my choices.
Yes, we are our fathers’ sons and daughters, but we are not their choices. For
despite their absences we are still here. Still alive, still breathing
with the power to change this world, one little boy and girl at a time.
Knock knock
Who’s there?
We are.

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Knock knock is relatable for many people for obvious reasons, but for me, it is a little different. My dad has had several health issues in the past, limiting what he can do. This relates to Daniel Beaty's knock knock because his father was taken away from him. He wasn't able to have these experiences with his dad.

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Daniel Beaty - Knock Knock (Def Jam Poetry)

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Daniel Beaty used the description of the prison to allow the audience visualize this massive structure filled to the brim with prisoners. He wanted us to realize how big this foreign place felt to this young child.

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Daniel Beaty used personification by saying he was confronted by the glass separating him and his dad. This showed the audience that it felt he was being pushed back by this glass wall.

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Beaty used a hyperbole to exaggerate the length of the highway he was driving down to get to his father. This let the audience realize how long that drive felt to him knowing that he was going to find his dad.

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The use of enunciation on the words like Knock and father show that Daniel Beaty could still feel the pain buried deep inside him. He wanted the listener to understand the pain he felt by simply saying knock knock and father.

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for the last few lines, Daniel Beaty's voice got louder until the line "knock knock
who's there"
then ended slowly and softer "we are" This shows that Daniel Beaty got everything he wanted off his chest and was back to a discussion. He wanted the audience to almost feel like they were speaking.

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A theme in Knock Knock is that you will always be remembered for the mistakes you made in life, or the things you missed. This was shown in Knock Knock by the lines "before my papa even says a word.
And for years he never said a word. And so twenty-five years later, I write these." This shows that the Daniel Beaty was very mad at his dad for going to prison and missing most of his childhood. He was very unforgiving and forgot all of the great things they did when Daniel was a child.

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Daniel Beaty's voice sped up several times through the poem. During the part where he described his experience when he found out he father was in prison, it almost sounded like a foreign language. This was to show the thoughts in his head, and how they were rushing around.

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One of the themes in Knock Knock is that your choices in life not only affect you, but affect everybody around you. This was shown in the poem by the lines "there’s things I don’t know, and I
thought maybe you could teach me. how to shave; how to dribble a ball; how to
talk to a lady; how to walk like a man." This shows that this man now never learned how to do these things because he was in prison for his child's life.

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Daniel Beaty used onomatopoeia in the phrase "knock knock" to let the audience visualize his father knocking on the door when he was young. It let the audience visualize what Beaty was going through.