We Real Cool

We Real Cool - Gwendolyn Brooks

We real cool. We

Left school. We

Lurk late. We

Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We

Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We

Die soon.

When I read the poem “we real cool” first, I immediately felt stream of thoughts gushing inside my mind, as I could relate myself and my life with the poem to a great extent. I had my share of personal crises with untimely deaths of people who were very dear to me, starting with the loss of my father the list ends with the recent loss of one of my best friends. But what’s striking is that poem screams out loud the very lesson I learned from all this tragedies, how fickle life can be.

He was a real happy-go-lucky kind of a chap. Not giving much of a thought about future, but living more in the present trying his best to enjoy it. He was a very charismatic person with the amazing ability to lift up the mood of anyone around him. His mere presence demanded joy, and his company was always a pleasure to have, with his twisted sense of humour and witty sayings. He was loved by everyone and he loved every one of his friends too. Every one of us missed him so much, when he moved to UK to complete his higher studies. Though he was far he managed to keep in touch with each and every one of his friends, via Facebook or Skype. None of us believed when we heard that dreadful news, we all thought he was playing a joke on us, as he told us that he was coming back home for holidays. But it was his brother’s cries that made us realize that it wasn’t a joke, made us accept the cold hard truth we denied before. He was indeed coming back home, but not alive.

This sudden and depressing incident was a revelation for me, as it had me thinking twice about the 20 years that was behind me. What have I accomplished? It’s true that I’ve done many, but I have achieved so little. I realized that it’s not the things that we collect that are important, but the legacy that we leave behind when move on to the great beyond. While we were all mourning about his death, his aunty told us this “All Beyon collected in his 24 years of life was his friends, and now I see that it was the wisest decision he ever made”.

We might die today, life might end in the next second, life is filled uncertainty and it’s what that makes it worth living. Live life like today’s your last day, love everyone and hate no one, for it is you who’ll be suffering from hate not the person you hate, and leave behind a legacy that’s loved by everyone for its all that is left after you. This is what I’ve learned from Beyon’s death, that it is love that everyone’ll cherish not resentment, and its love that’ll make anyone cherish the memories with you. Enjoy the little things in life with your loved ones, for Life is too short to miss them.

This is an article taken out from my portfolio for Reading and Composition 1 (English 101A).

The Poem that inspired me to write this essay, is a poem that's in the text book of the Comp1

Beyon Alex was a great friend to me and an awesome inspiration as well. Brother you will be always remembered and missed. May you rest in peace.