Close Read 4- We Real Cool

“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a poem that is all about character.  The speaker in the poem speaks in casual slang.  However, the title of the poem is almost a paradox to the content.  The poem itself seems, to me, a satirical commentary on being “cool”.  Although short in length, the poem has a very poignant message.  The speaker, who claims to be cool because he or she “left school” and “lurks late” (2-3), claims that in spite of those who share the similar lifestyle being allegedly cool, they “die soon” (8).  That is to say that their lifestyle is dangerous, and thus they risk untimely ends.  The poem is the embodiment of the saying “Live fast, die young.”