Jiaxing Rong Discussion 12

I chose “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks to complete the steps of poetry appreciation. By reading it several times first, I noticed this poem mostly has isometric stanzas that consist of the same length lines, except the first stanzas. Also, each two ending words of the sentences rhyme, which I thought the pauses should be there but it in fact stops at the end of the line, “we”. Nonetheless, the poem gives me an impression that is easily memorized from the rhyme and simple words. Next step is starting the conversation, and obviously the conversation can’t begin as long as I don’t post my thread. However, one question I want to discuss here is what the speaker is suggesting in the poem. At first, I thought the speaker is a host in a game because from the first stanza “THE POOL PLAYERS”, the speaker is like reading this poem particularly to them. But the consistent word “we” made me realize the speaker is the peer of the audience. Based on the behaviors in the rest stanzas, the audience is seven rebellious teenagers including the speaker herself. “THE GOLDEN SHOVEL” seems they have the best equipment to dig their potentials up, but what they have been doing is the opposite, messing up their lives. The poem ends with “We Die soon”, returning to the title “We Real Cool” with a karma that all they have is only cool.