Hampshire Poet blog - April 2025
- Damian Kelly-Basher
- Mar 31
- 2 min read
During his two year tenure, your new Hampshire Poet - Damian Kelly-Basher - will be writing a series of blog posts for us sharing what he has been up to, telling us his poetic plans for the future, and inviting you to get involved in poetry in Hampshire. Read on to find out what's happening in Damian's world!
In this blog, Damian looks at the Golden Shovel
The Golden Shovel poetry form borrows words from other poems and songs (see also July 2024 blog - The Cento) where the last word of each line forms a second, pre-existing poem.
It was invented by the black, North American poet Terrance Hayes. The name comes from a poem by the legendary black, female poet, Gwendoline Brooks. Hayes designed the ‘Golden Shovel’ to give poets a fresh way of paying tribute to the work of other poets, especially those from marginalised groups, whose voices might not be heard.
Hayes wrote two Golden Shovels in response to Brooks 1959 poem “We Real Cool”: The Golden Shovel
Here is Brooks’ original poem: We Real Cool
Many poets now use the Golden Shovel form. For example, Peter Khan uses a line from the Joni Mitchell’s song “ Big Yellow Taxi” for his poem Till It's Gone.
Here are Joni’s original lyrics for Big Yellow Taxi
See how different his poem is from the borrowed line?
Writing exercise (Tips from Peter Khan):
Choose an interesting line from a poem or song.
Write the words as a list down the right-hand margin.
Each word will now be the end word of the lines of your new poem. Both poems should have the same number of lines.
Try and make the topic of your poem different from the topic of the original.
Have fun. Writing is about having fun with words.
Damian Kelly-Basher is Hampshire Poet Laureate 2024-26. The appointment of the Hampshire Poet takes place every two years and is jointly led by Winchester Poetry Festival and Hampshire Cultural Trust. The position of Hampshire Poet provides the opportunity for a Hampshire-based poet to undertake commissions, lead workshops and give readings and talks throughout the county, as well as acting as an advocate for poetry and poets.
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