We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks
What initially caught my attention with the poem was the form. Each line (accept the last) ends with the word “we.” Because of this there’s kind of this “pause” right after the “we,” before saying the rest of the sentence. This also makes each line rhyme more towards the middle rather than the end, while still having the rhymes rhythmically sound like they come toward the end.
When I started to analyze the poem, I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. my first assumption/gut reaction was that it was making some kind of commentary on the minorities in america regarding their perception and actions as a result of societal standards. This first came from the grammatical style, with it saying “we real cool” versus “we are really cool,” as this is perceived as common in aave and language often associated with minorities (which is a whole other thing omg). I also connected it to how because of the socioeconomic disparities in the united states, and the deeply ingrained prejudice, that these kids weren’t in school, and were acting “bad” (b/c often in neighborhoods where the majority population are minorities, they receive poor funding for everything, and the city has a general disinterest towards their education and schools, leading to higher dropout rates.) The last line added onto this reading of the poem monumentally, as it says “we die soon.” I thought this was a comment on how POC and minorities as a whole are often targeted and die much sooner than their white, affluent counterparts.
After my initial reaction i wanted to read it a lot closer and pay more attention to each line, so i just started from the beginning. The subtitle, I guess you could call it, says “The Pool Players./ Seven at the Golden Shovel.” I assume the setting is some kind of pool hall or bar, named the “Golden Shovel.” I’m not sure if “seven” is referring to the time, or to the amount of people the poem is focusing on. The next two lines are “we real cool. we/ left school. we” So I think the use of “we” could be either whoever is looking at these players imagining what they think, or could be the players speaking themselves. I think if it’s the players themselves it adds a bit more to the poem, because it attributes this sense of timid confidence (because the pause after the we at each line kind of makes it sound a little unsure), and it makes these players very aware of what they’re doing. I’m also assuming that them saying ‘we left school” means they dropped out of school (just because a later line mentions june, so this might be taking place in summer, and also I’m p sure most people don’t go to a pool hall until later at night).
“Lurk late. We/ Strike straight. We” References the fact that they stay out all night, and are playing pool (maybe also tied to fighting? You can strike another person). The word “lurk” also makes the players seem more intimidating, and the combination of “lurk” and “strike” lends itself to something dangerous, possibly fights, possibly lurking to follow a woman or man or easy “prey” to “strike” them (rape/assault/etc.)
I just kind of continued this process for the rest of the poem, coming away with a sense that the players took pride in these dastardly activities, but again, had this sneaking bit of insecurity in the back of their heads. I think it could still be a comment on how racial or socioeconomic prejudice affects people, like if we think of minorities specifically, the communities created from societal oppression promote this behavior as something tough and cool, but racial prejudice also kind of crafts this huge sense of insecurity in young minorities, like everything they do is wrong.
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