Pinsky’s poem is written in free verse, a form of poetry that is meant to mimic more typical speech and does not follow a strict rhyme scheme. Using free verse creates the feeling the speaker is talking directly to the reader in a way that is more accessible and casual.

“The Street” relates an anecdote about the speaker’s experience watching a stranger’s story unfold in a public space. The free-verse poem, like the unfolding of the event itself, makes a private moment public. The casual and direct language makes it easy to witness and understand.

Pinsky’s work and philosophy of poetry emphasizes the importance of poetry as a communal mode of communication that can bind everyday people together. The use of free verse in “The Street,” and in Pinsky's other poems, emphasizes the communal nature of the experience the speaker describes and the importance of sharing those experiences with others who share a language and common history.

“The Street” does not contain end rhymes, but it is full of more subtle literary devices, such as alliteration, assonance, and