REFLECTION: We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks

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.

Although this poem is pretty short, it has so much background details that are not in it and portrays a huge aspect of identity through language. Reading through the poem for the first time it was very easy to understand as there wasn't any complex lines and such. Reading through it a second time, I realized that the subtitle in the beginning is the most complex and important thing in the poem. Without the subtitle, the poem couldn't be comprehended easily on a deeper level. It is quite obvious that the speaker is observing these seven pool players and is writing in a way that is analyzing what they might be thinking.