We Real Cool.

Due to the awesomeness of my American Literature instructor, I was made aware of this awesome recording of Gwendolyn Brooks, talking about her most famous poem, We Real Cool (click here to listen).

Here's the poem. I love the suggested cadence by its unusual breaks in the middle of sentences...

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.

Borrowed from The Poetry Foundation

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. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433#sthash.ZRy5XCWL.dpuf

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. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433#sthash.ZRy5XCWL.dpuf

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. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433#sthash.ZRy5XCWL.dpuf

 A few observations...
1) Gwendolyn Brooks, herself, is pretty darn cool.  I love this picture of her smile, and looking at the You Tube link while listening to her talk about her poem.
2) Don't we all wish there were more adults working with teenagers who tried to think what they were thinking, instead of trying to pound the quadratic equation or a list of the steps of mitosis into their heads?
3) I love that she clarifies the misunderstanding about "jazz."  I wouldn't have guessed it was sexual, but I love that she just wants people to take it however they see it. 
4) Of course everyone loves June.  You can send me presents on the 28th.


 Isn't technology terrific?  I love that we have this recording preserved.  If only we could interview other famous writers, and ask them questions about their writings...

Mr. Shakespeare, how do you feel about the accusations of whoring and plagiarism?