We Real Cool

This blog post marks the beginning of a series of write ups on some of the most thought-provoking pieces of literature. They will also attempt to broaden your literary horizons and guide you to read good materials regularly.

The first piece that is being shared with you is Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”. While the poem may seem small and simple on paper, there are layers of meaning hidden inside.

Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the most highly regarded, influential, and widely read poets of 20th-century American poetry. She was a much-honored poet, even in her lifetime, with the distinction of being the first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize. Her poem ‘We Real Cool’, which was published in 1959, was instantly seen as a ground-breaking classic and still remains popular.

THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

-Gwendolyn Brooks

The poem talks about a group of rebellious teenagers who play pool in the Golden Shovel. From the teenagers’ coolness to their demise, this skeletal poem poses many questions. For example, who are the ‘we’? They surely must be young because they’re cool, real cool, which means exactly what? Extremely chilled? Anti-establishment? Fashionable because they’re outside the mainstream?

The Literary Committee at Mica encourages a deep dive into the world of art and literature. This blog post is just one of the ways we cheer discourse on the written word. Do let us know what you think about the poem. You can write to us at litcomm@micamail.in.

Related posts:

If you are looking to buy Tripadvisor reviews, we will say that you are at the right seller. We provide worldwide qualified Tripadvisor review sales service. We have a number of authors who act as…

I like to talk about Keto, and these are my thoughts. So we decided, as a team, that we would call these Keto Thoughts. We live in Orlando. That’s all I’ll give you. I won’t give you more details…

Learning to Trust Your Intuition Using Guided Chakra Meditation Techniques is the full video of a guided meditation session with Dhyanse in Basel, Switzerland held on 10th December 2018. You can view…