We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks

The poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks was a very short and easy poem to read. I took the literal explanation of the poem because to me, it is a very literal poem. This poem is basically describing how “cool” people act. Each line in this poem is a fragmented sentence that begins with the word “we” (1-7). The reader can then draw the conclusion that the people that think they are cool, they are also not very educated (We / Left school” (1-2)). An interesting aspect of the poem is that it is only written with single syllable words. I think this was done in order to keep a certain flow or pulse throughout the poem. Brooks also used alliteration throughout her poem such as “lurk late” (3), “strike straight” (4), “sing sin” (5), and “Jazz June” (7). The poem ends with the line “We / Die soon” which I think that the lifestyle of these “cool” people isn’t all the glory that people think it is.