We Real Cool

The second line of “We Real Cool” sets the location of the poem at The Golden Shovel. This pool hall holds seven young men who speak the majority of the lines in the poem. The name, The Golden Shovel, holds significance because shovels are used for manual labor, including gravedigging. The golden quality of this shovel, in contrast, indicates great worth, importance, and aesthetic beauty. The darker implications of the shovel’s use resonate at the final sentence of the poem: “We / die soon” (Lines 9-10). The shovel evokes the approaching demise of the young men. 

The word “we” recurs eight times in the poem. The repetition builds rhythm and rhyme, and emphasizes the collective identity of the young men speaking. This persona poem, unlike others, uses a first person plural perspective to convey the identity of the speakers. The young men speak as one, but their unity seems fragile as they progress, culminating in a prediction of their own death. When the reader takes a pause at the end of each line, each “we” hangs on a note of suspense, further indicating that the group may be vulnerable and dissolve at any moment.