I like the content of this one very much, though I too was confused at the start about who was doing what, at first assuming it was the father slipping the nickel into the son's hand. It does read like free verse because some of the rhythms of the lines are so irregular that it is hard to hear a consistent beat (I can hear just four beats in L8, for example). The first time through, I was reading for meaning, and the rhythms felt natural, as did the language, but it did not feel like a sonnet. I have no objection to breaking rules when it comes to form, so long as it seems deliberately done. Here, the underpinnings of rhyme give a subtle shape, de-emphasized by the frequent enjambment, and that approach seems to fit the anecdotal nature of the content, which is quite powerful.
Susan
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