read by Gwendolyn Brooks. audio from poets.org. Recorded May 03, 1983
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.
(1959)
Poem of the Week
thumbs down
while I would never presume to dictate tastes, I do love this poem.
not that I think this will cause you to like the poem, you might be interested in reading some of Brooks’ thoughts on it (a very short interview) – http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/werealcool.htm
makes him sound pretentious about what i would argue is a pretty simple poem. i suppose my poetry experience is limited to song lyrics (which ofttimes are not poetry, but nonetheless), and i generally like lyrics that evoke thoughts and feelings in ways that i think ‘wow that’s a great use of the language, i never would have thought to write that’. i suppose this is hardly an original thought. anyway, the only line in that poem i’m vaguely impressed by was “thin gin”, which used a common word in a way i’ve never seen.
I sort of think of this poem kind of like a haiku – using minimal language to say quite a bit.