The Riff Raff

I agree completely with Brooks' statement about her own poem. I think that enjambing the lines and splitting up the "we" and the adjectives describing we creates a feeling of insecurity. Whether the "we" at the end of each line is spoken softly or not, the insecurity remains. Even if one were to read the we harshly, and succeed in reading the following words on the next line harshly, the pause still creates an uncertain attitude. However, the way the poem flows, if the we is spoken softly, the rest is spoken more assuredly. If the we is spoken harshly, the rest flows quietly.
The way Brooks reads the first line, which also happens to be the way I read it, "real cool" closely follows the "We" instead of being enjambed like all the other "we" references. The pool players don't realize just how uncertain they are until they start speaking. It's almost as if they say "We real cool", then someone asks them to prove it and they are lost for words. I think the enjambment here has the effect that ellipsis does. The pool players, searching for the reasons that they are "real cool", pause after each "we" looking for another peice of evidence of just how cool they are.
One characteristic of the poem that isn't mentioned in Brooks' statement is the alliteration and rhyme scheme. However, I think both of these literary tools amplify the same meaning. The cool pool kids can rhyme on a dime, they think they're the cool cats, the buff beef, the slick slacks, and the knick knacks. The way the poem alliterates and rhymes almost makes it sound like a lame rap verse, a couple of big bad boys who desperately call themselves cool to replace their lack of knowledge of theirselves.