The Golden Shovel poetry
Image by Sebastian Mey from Pixabay
Terrance Hayes introduced this poetry style based on a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. I read about it in Robert Lee Brewer’s Smash Poetry Journal. I like it when Lee challenges his readers to try new poetic styles and encourages them to create something different.
The rules of this style of poetry are simple:
· Take a line from a poem you wrote or read
· Use each word in the line as the end word in your new poem
· Keep the end words in order
I’d read a stirring poem by David Hollis on Medium that morning, so I chose this line from the poem as my new poem —
“Imagine if we swam against the tide of popular culture.”
Using each word as an end word, I wrote this new poem.
Image by Barbara Jackson from Pixabay
Can You Imagine
Can you imagine
what life would be like if
all of us lived a fully devoted life and if we
did as Jesus did and swam
upstream against
these modern ideals and the
changes in moral tide
to fully embrace the life of
Christ, even if we’re not popular
with family, friends and the current culture?
~ Lynne
I hope you enjoyed reading this poetic form. I enjoyed writing it and intend to write more in this style. Have you heard of this style before? I hope you’ll try it out if it’s new to you.
’Til next time — remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
~ Lynne
This poem was originally published on Medium in the publication Koinonia
“Imagine” by David Hollis in “Messages From the Heart of God Volume 2”
“The Golden Shovel” by Terrance Hayes
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Lynne Collier 