Scratching the Cue Ball in Pulitzer County (for Gwendolyn)

Scratching the Cue Ball in Pulitzer County (for Gwendolyn)

 

 

 

in Harvey,

where Gwendolyn Brooks lay low

by the little bar where they played pool

they were so cool

 

throwing up gin

full of sin

adolescent rebellion

they were hellions 

 

make the shot

take the shot

chug it down

 

it's almost June

the dying soon

will occur

i remember her

 

and jazz

on a cool autumn night

emanating from the bar

 

dirty glasses

soaked coasters

they were coasting through life

no agenda to speak of

they were so cool

 

her pen dancing on the table

scat lines drawing thin

 

she lay low

years ago

 

her poetry still jazzes June

in Harvey

where the seven and she

are gone too soon.

 

 

erin-cilberto

10/19/19

Reviews

[redzone]

damn Jacob, Gwendolyn Brooks!!! her poetry was jazz and ooooooooh soooooooooo COOOOOOOL!! and speaks/sings to anyone with a heart... love your tribute... Gwendolyn Brooks!!!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Curt....
j.

[Eilis]

I had to write an essay on Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem We Real Cool in college and the rhythm of it has remained with me these many years. I just need a hint or suggestion of it and the whole thing starts cycling in my head.

You really captured the spirit of it here. Those poor misguided young men who could only see today and so wanted to live it as though tomorrow would never come.

The poet herself accomplished so much during her lifetime and still lives on through her unique voice. You’ve done her justice by not only emulating her poem in little ways here, but also by offering a glimpse at a portrait of the woman. A very cool poem here, Jacob.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind words, Eilis...
just loved her and her work...
j.

[kentuck14]

J,
Another wonderful tribute to a poet from the past. Puts you right there! Thanks.
T

[jacob erin-cilberto]

she was a beautiful poet, inside and out....so kind and down to earth....i was lucky enough to get to talk to her the three times i got to see her here in Southern Illinois. Thank you for your kind review.
j.

[Dave Brown]

I have to thank you for the introduction
lying under cars for half my recreational life didn't introduce me to many artists

[jacob erin-cilberto]

she is worth a look...a great poet...
thank you, Dave,
j.

[Einstein Noodle]

great tribute ... wonderful engaging imagery, setting and scene .. i have listened (more than once) to her recording of "We Real Cool" .. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/video/142394/we-real-cool ... is a pretty "cool" one :)
i think she would be honored by your poem, jacob ... love the title "Scratching the Cue Ball....." reeeeeeeeeeal cooooooooooooooool ;)
E.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you so much, E.---i am hopeful she would be.
Really sweet lady as well as being one of the greats....
j.

[Chris Shaw]

A tribute to the first black American woman to win the pulitzer prize
for poetry. She died in 2000, so I am wondering whether you ever got the chance to see her or whether you were just a huge fan of hers and
maybe studied her work?

I remember her

and jazz
on a cool autumn night
emanating from the bar

That p!ace certainly had atmosphere.

Who are the seven and where is Harvey? I need to read her Jacob. Thank you for this tribute and for bringing her to my attention.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

the seven pool players at the Golden Shovel...and Harvey is a suburb of Chicago...i was lucky enough to not only see her three times, once at John A. and twice at SIU...but each time got to chat with her after her talk....she was such a sweet person...she won the Pulitzer the year i was born ...1950...I told her that and she smiled and asked if i had seen the notices that she was going to get it...i said "no, i was inside my mom"--she laughed...
she was a living poem...and i love her work...
much of this poem is a tribute to her poem "We Real Cool"---
j.

[Chris Shaw]

I love that you say she was a living poem. She would have liked that too. Lucky you meeting her :)