Without a doubt, Gwendolyn Brooks, as she aged and time passed, her entire focus, content, and style in her poetry shifted into an entirely different direction. In the 1960s, the previously vague and universal poetry that had Brooks sought, soon vanished, her style, content, and focus now emphasis now “...towards black solidarity and black pride in her poetry from the 1960's, reflecting her increasing awareness of the political potential of poetry” (Commentary on 1950…). Now, her poetry concentrated on politics and the style of militancy, she only began to write such poems after being “Inspired by the black power movement and the militancy of such poets as Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Haki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee)” (DISCovering Authors, 2003, Gwendolyn Brooks). Additionally, a good example of her newfound poetic change would be one her poems, “Gay Chaps at the Bar” which serves a brilliant gateway to introduce features that she included in her poems at the time: “...family life, war, the quest for contentment and honor, and the hardships caused by racism and poverty” (Discovering Authors, 2003, Gwendolyn Brooks). Undeniably, the poem itself directly appeals to these ideas, for example in lines 11 through 14, “No stout / Lesson showed how to chat with death. / No brass fortissimo, along our talents, / To holler down the lions in this air.” (Lines 11-14). Or, even lines 1 and 2 “We knew how to order. Just the dash / Necessary. The length of gayety in good taste.” (Lines 1-2). Even, Line 8 where she writes “Knew white speech. How to make a look an omen.” (Line 8). Evidently, this is not a calm, fun central idea, it seems to sound almost angry, almost bitter, as it describes this situation that seems all but friendly or cordial to narrator speaking. Unquestionably, Gwendolyn Brooks’ poetry changed drastically as she grew up, time changed, and…
