The Golden Shovel - The Chicago Poetry Center

The Golden Shovel

This week we explored the Golden Shovel form created by Terrance Hayes. We discussed how even now, there are forms of poetry still being created and invented. Hayes was inspired by one of our very own Chicago poets, Gwendolyn Brooks and used her piece, The Pool Players: Seven at the Golden Shovel as inspiration for this form of poetry. The golden shovel takes a line of poetry from another poet’s work, and then each word from that line becomes the last, in a newly composed line of poetry. Students looked over all of the poems we had read during the course of our time together, and used a line from a poem they loved, or a line from one of their own pieces. Then they got to work. This took some real brain work and ALOT of effort! It was pretty awesome to see students struggle but persist and work really hard creating these new pieces. Ms. Caplan’s class decided to continue working on theirs next week, so for now here are a few Golden Shovels from Ms. Murray’s class.

Ms. Murray 6th Grade

Before I die, I want to share my verses from my soul Juan

I have done a lot of things before
But alot of things that I
have done before, will be remembered when I die
Becasue when the time finally come, I
want people to know I did lots of things and want
people to realize that I had to
push hardships away and say things to share
to other people, in order for my
details to be heard just like verses
from a sweet song that lights up ears from
a magnificent artist that settle my
mood and deeply lightens my soul

Todo Es Hermoso Y Constante, Todo Musica y Razon Sara

Las cosas, las personas para me son todo
esas cosas or personas nos hacen nosotros es
como nuestra personalidad, y eso hace hermoso
nuestra vida, si perdemos eso no es interesante y,
no es bonito, por eso con esas personas toca ser constatnte
estar con ellas, esas pueden darte de todo
y de nada, pero eso no es su decision, es
la nuestra, esas cosas, y ellos, son como musica
relajante, feliz. Nos soportan, estan ahi y
nos aman, por eso nosotros los amamos, esa es la razon.

Translation:
Things and people mean everything to me.
Those things—or those people—make us who we are;
they shape our personality,
and that’s what makes life beautiful.
If we lose that, life is no longer interesting,
no longer lovely.
That’s why, with those people,
we must be constant—stay close to them.
They can give us everything,
or nothing at all.
But that’s not their choice—
it’s ours.
Those things, and those people,
are like music:
soothing, joyful.
They support us, they’re there for us,
and they love us.
That’s why we love them—
that is the reason.