We+Real+Cool+(Block+34)

 Theres no place that combines jazz, competition, and a good time as well as a pool hall. No matter how complex a game of pool may become, the atomsphere of the hall is simple and good. For this reason, I believe that Gwendolyn Brooks purposely created the poem so that the rhyme scheme was simple, and that the poem was short and to the point. It is appealing to those who wish to understand more about the lives of an African American when they were rejected as a lower race compared to white people. In the 1960’s, it was common that an African American person would be ridiculed for trying to have the same privileges as a white person. So it was always good to have a place where they could escape all of the harassment of society and have fun. That is where the pool game comes into play. There was not meant to be any race hatred in the pool halls because it was not meant for that, so why talk about it in the poem. This is one of the few poems that did not speak of cruelty or equality, for the reason that a pool game is very chill. In just a few stanzas, Gwendolyn Brooks was able to sum up the life of a pool player. They usually would drop out of school to have a little more freedom, and would reappear at the pool tables. The players would always strike the ball straight and lurk at the facilities late because that is just what it was for. Jazz was also a slang word for sex back in those days, so saying that they jazz probably meant that they were having sex during the long nights of pool playing. After it all, it says that ‘we die soon’. Whether this means they can not survive in the racist society or they are taken out by a gang, it still gave a new light to African Americans that life is short, so be cool and live.