Friday, December 3, 2010
Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet, was born June 7, 1917 and died December 3, 2000. Though a prolific poet who published volumes of work, this brief eight-line verse is the poem most often found in anthologies and textbooks. 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. Go here to hear Ms. Brooks explain how she came to write this poem, which you may also hear her read.
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2 comments:
I like this! Somehow I've never heard of her.
Shark, you can find many of Ms. Brooks's poems at
poemhunter dot com. I like this, too:
The Bean Eaters
They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair.
Dinner is a casual affair.
Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood,
Tin flatware.
Two who are Mostly Good.
Two who have lived their day,
But keep on putting on their clothes
And putting things away.
And remembering . . .
Remembering, with twinklings and twinges,
As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that
is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths,
tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.
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