We Real Cool
By Gwendolyn Brooks
The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.
We real cool. We
Brooks uses enjambment to create a syncopated, jazz-influenced rhythm. Consider how different the poem would sound if all the lines began rather than ended with “We.”Left school. We
In an interview with George Stavros, Brooks said that these line breaks suggest the young men’s “basic uncertainty.” They hesitate each time they try to express who they are.Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
The diction, as well as the rhythm, of the poem is informed by music, with verbs like “sing” and “jazz.”Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
By breaking the swinging rhythm in the last line, Brooks underscores the abrupt and untimely end to these young lives.Gwendolyn Brooks. "We Real Cool" from Blacks by Gwendolyn Brooks. Copyright © 1991 by Gwendolyn Brooks. Reprinted by consent of Brooks Permissions.