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Although notorious for its strict formal requirements, the sonnet is nevertheless represented by such wide-ranging examples as Maggie Anderson's "Sonnet for Her Labor" and Tyehimba Jess's "Millie and Christine McCoy"-poems that differ remarkably in subject, rhythm, and structure. It may seem counterintuitive that the sonnet-ostensibly rigid and timeworn-could accommodate such variety, but poet Carl Phillips contends that the form invites experimentation: when a genre's conventions are as recognizable as those of the sonnet, the opportunity to subvert them is especially irresistible.