Poem #2: Response to "We Real Cool" by Brooks

Poem:

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.

Response: 

The most noteworthy aspect of this poem is the diction the author uses. In the second stanza, the author states, "We Lurk late. We Strike straight." The author uses the words, "lurk" and "strike", to describe the characters intentions of being carefree and not being worried about anything. This poem seems to revolve around this idea of childhood and growing up into adulthood: something of which the characters in this poem are not aware of. Beginning this poem, I actually thought the words in the poem might symbolize something more deeper than the details provided. However, as I continued reading, I realized that the author uses these specific details such as, "We Left school...We Sing sin", to describe the recklessness of these children who are still too young to realize what they're doing. From the beginning of the poem, the speaker seemed very confident in what he/she does with his/her friends because the speaker used a positive tone of voice. However, by the very end of the poem, the speaker says, "We Die soon". I thought this was important to note in conclusion to the overall theme of the poem because as a child, most people are unaware of the outside influences on themselves and how that will affect them when they grow older. Like the kids or teens in this poem, they are influenced by external forces such as their other friends, drinking, and committing sins. When the speaker states, "We Die soon", it is almost as if their childhood is dying instead of themselves altogether. The tone of the entire poem changes from positive to negative, much like the emotions one feels when they have to or are forced to grow up. I think the line, "We Die soon", is the most important line in the poem because it concludes the end of their childhood they once had: their reckless and carefree attitudes have to end and they have to grow up in order to mature and become successful. I didn't quite catch this theme till now. At first I thought the poem literally signified one's death by acting reckless and carefree but now I come to realize that that's actually not the case at all. The poem's overall theme is, "In order for one to mature from their childhood, the reckless and carefree days must be concluded."

It's interesting to realize I didn't catch this actual significance of the poem until the third time reading it. I didn't like the poem at first but now that I realized its' significance, I kind of enjoy it.