Gwendolyn Brooks
Poems can be one sentence or an epic poem that runs for pages. Length is irrelevant; it’s the meaning and feeling that strikes a chord deep inside of you causing you to react in some way.
In the following poem, American poet Gwendolyn Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) paints a brushstroke of lost youth.
We Real Cool
We real cool. We
Left School. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
--Gwendolyn Brooks
Click on the following link to see and hear John Ulrich from South Boston, MA explain the effect this poem had on his life.