We THINK "We Real Cool"

Recently, I had read the poem "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks. At first read of the tired I was unsure of what to expect, and after reading the first stanza, I was even more unsure. After reading the entire poem as a whole I had a far better understanding, but the first stanza still left me confused an unsure of how to interpret it. I viewed the remainder of the poem as essentially the "cool" kids were the ones who skipped class, stay out late, and drink gin. In High School that most often is the case. The "rebels" were always the gossip of the school that kids wanted to be, but were never "brave" enough to do so. Something that caught my attention was the final line of the poem; "Die soon." This could mean several things, such as everyone dies eventually, or the fact that people who live fast and dangerously die sooner. I enjoyed this line because it left the readers to interpret the poem themselves. After rereading the poem I was able to make a slight connection with the line "Seven at the Golden Shovel," and "Die Soon." I interpreted this piece as the "Seven at the Golden Shovel" being the seven "cool" kids essentially digging their own graves with the negative choices they have been making, and the other kids at school referred to them as "The Pool Players." The video in the link below is a clip of Gwendolyn Brooks reading the poem herself. The way she read it appeared to be a bit sarcastic, almost as if she was mocking the "cool" kids. I was extremely intrigued when listening to this, because Dr. Reed explained how he had watched Brooks read this poem live, and she  recited it with a much different tone. When noticing this, I took it as Brooks wrote the poem with the intent of having several different meanings, and for the readers/listeners to interpret the poem a different way every time.

"We Real Cool" By Gwendolyn Brooks, Read aloud:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBpxJb24O8A