"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks

I picked Gwendolyn Brooks because frankly, she has an awesome name. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy her poetry but after some research, reading her biography and a good amount of her published work, I've come to respect her talent and ability to write on the reality of Blacks in Topeka during the Civil Rights period. I enjoy learning about black heritage and her poetry gives a personal account of her experiences and observations. This particular poem caught my eye because of the title, as it sounded like the actual dialect of blacks during this period of time. "We Real Cool" is a combination of personal observation and her feelings about the situations.

We real cool. We
Left school. We 

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We 

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We 

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

I think this poem, although written in 1972, can be applied to modern day society. Many teens follow the same patterns. It's interesting that these patterns break all racial and socio-economic barriers. All teenagers search for independence, looking for something to define themselves. We, as a group of equal people act out on who we are supposed to be. We ditch school, some drink, listen to music, and live as if today is all they have. This poem does the job in taking the experience of blacks and making a broad description of a time in a person's life when all of us are searching for ourselves.