The lyric poem is composed of 13 rhyming three-line stanzas or tercets. The poem’s rhyme scheme is ABA, with words sometimes rhyming roughly or approximately. Lines frequently use the iambic meter, where a stressed sound follows an unstressed one, as in “if you subtract minor losses” (Line 1), though it uses other meters as well. The poem’s structured form is interrupted by its enjambments, with lines sometimes ending in the middle of a compound word. For example, “…but I love the romantic / who submits finally to sex in a burning row- // house more” (Lines 32-34). In this mixture of structure and improvisation, the poem mirrors a blues song, with its “bloodshot octaves” (Line 23).

Consciously musical, the poem uses several auditory devices like alliteration and repetition. Words like blue, the blues, and love repeat through the poem, tying the poem’s internal sounds together. Onomatopoeic expressions like “Thump. Thump / Thump” (Lines 9-10) make it more musical. In keeping with its song-like form, the poem uses stressed sounds and words with fewer syllables, such as “smooth” (Lines 8, 10), “balloon” (Line 27), and “teeth” (Line 35).