I haven't read or thought about this poem by Gwendolyn Brooks since high school but for reasons unexplained it has been running through my head all day:
THE POOL PLAYERS. SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.We real cool. We
Left school. WeLurk late. We
Strike straight. WeSing sin. We
Thin gin. WeJazz June. We
Die soon.
Comments:
That poem always reminds me of a Curtis Mayfield song - or the song reminds me of the poem - Here but I'm Gone - very deep lyrics to that song.
Had never heard of it but it's great. Now the rhythm will stay in my head too.
This was one of the first modern poems I read in college, which both made me want to be a writer and made me realize how ridiculous the idea was ever to think it feasible to be a professional poet (I was 18).