In 1965 the Chicago Daily news carried the full text of “To a Winter squirrel”. This was a unique sonnet, not only in content but also in style. Brook played around with the original conventions of sonnet writing tweaking them to fit her unique style. The sonnet is written in fifteen verses; the classical way of writing a sonnet includes only fourteen verses. Some verses are only one word or name, “Merdice”, to add dramatic effect. Brooks goes on to publish To a Winter Squirrel in her book the Mecca (1968). Brooks saw her convention breaking of the sonnet as a small protest against Anglo-Saxon institutions that attempt keep order in all aspects of living; even in Brooks writing. Even though Brooks does not always break the conventions of writing styles she does keep this voice of protest and reason in her writing. This voice is prevalent in To a Winter Squirrel and this voice is how she received national acclaim all over the nation but mainly from the black communities in America who could relate to her words. That and she only published for black publishers to further emphasize her ties to the black communities all over America.