Ode to a Drum

What is the author's style in Ode to a Drum by Yusef Komunyakaa?

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"Ode to a Drum" comprises a single stanza of twenty-nine lines of four to nine syllables each, with the majority of the lines five or six syllables long. Technically, the poem is considered free verse, although Komunyakaa closely controls the poem's lineation (that is, the way each line breaks) to control the poem's rhythm and to emphasize the poem's meaning.