What’s A Golden Shovel Poem? & How Do I Write One?

What’s A Golden Shovel Poem? & How Do I Write One?

Are you a poet? Want to learn about an increasingly popular poetry form called The Golden Shovel? This blog explores The Golden Shovel poem.

The Golden Shovel

Every poet struggles with form. We all want it because it lends structure to our verses. It creates rhythm. It offers a beginning, a middle, and an end. Take any poetic form, and they all turn a poet’s thoughts into nice little packages.

In contrast, modern poets often hate established forms as they seem old-fashioned and restrictive.

If you feel like that, then maybe the Golden Shovel is for you. It’s a modern poetic form that fuses both structure and freedom. Its features have made it increasingly popular in recent years. Interested? Then follow me.

What Is A Golden Shovel Poem?

The Golden Shovel is a poetic form that needs a pre-existing source poem. Poets simply choose a poem by another writer, take a line, or several lines, and use each of these words as the final word to each line of their own poem.

It works like a reverse acrostic poem (except that the readers don’t string the first letters to get the hidden message, but the last word of each line).

If that still sounds all Greek to you, we should look at how the Golden Shovel was invented. It will become much clearer. I promise. 

Who Invented The Golden Shovel?

The Golden Shovel was invented by American poet Terrance Hayes in 2010. He wrote a poem called ‘The Golden Shovel’ in a new form that he invented. As I’ve said, he chose a source poem, and we need to take a look at it.  It’s a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks, Hayes’ literary hero. It is called ‘We Real Cool’ (1959).

In ‘We real Cool’, Gwendolyn Brooks describes teenagers in a pool hall called ‘The Golden Shovel.’ She uses internal rhyme and enjambment to give coherence to her poem. Here are the first few lines:

What’s A Golden Shovel Poem? How Do I Write One?

Now compare this to the first lines of Terrance Hayes’ poem called ‘The Golden Shovel’ from 2010 (I have underlined the last word in every line. You’ll understand why, once you read it):

What’s A Golden Shovel Poem? How Do I Write One?

As you can see, Hayes is using Brooks’ lines as the final words of his own lines. I think you can see how the source poem inspired the new poem, leaving enough artistic freedom to write a unique poem.

Let’s take a look at how you can write a Golden Shovel on your own.

How You Can Write A Golden Shovel

First, you choose a poem by another writer. Let’s say, we choose ‘Next to of course god america i’ by e.e.cummings. Of that poem, we’ll only take the first 6 words. We’ll write each word at the end of our own six lines. Then your paper will look like this:

________________________________________________________________________next

________________________________________________________________________to

________________________________________________________________________of

________________________________________________________________________course

________________________________________________________________________god

________________________________________________________________________america

All you need to do now is fill in the blanks right before these end words. Whatever you come up with is fine. You only need to end your lines with  e.e.cummings’ words.

There are a few conventions to this poetic form:

  1. Never change the words of the source poem. You can change the punctuation, though.
  2. You should give credit to the poet of the source poem, and also to the title of the poem. It’s a matter of courtesy, copyright, and context.
  3. The tone and subject matter of both poems don’t have to be related. The new poem can even be the total opposite of the source!

Why Should I Write A Golden Shovel Poem?

For poets, the most important advantage is that Golden Shovels are (relatively) easy to write. The words of the source poem act like a shoehorn, inspiring the writers, easing them into the new poem.

This form lends structure to a poem without imprisoning the poet. As a bonus, poets get to collaborate with their literary heroes; all they have to do is choose their favourite lines.

On a semantic level, the Golden Shovel is rather exciting. By linking the new poem to the source poem, writers create an extra layer of meaning. Even if the two poems are seemingly unrelated, the mere fact that they are linked creates new meaning. Readers find this exciting to explore.

Of course, writers have always referenced and quoted other writers. There has always been a metatext hidden from most average readers. It’s like a secret that’s only detectable to the initiated. The Golden Shovel makes the references rather clear.

In addition, in the day and age, when connecting, networking, cross-referencing, and contextualising have become such a big part of our culture, it seems that the Golden Shovel is the ideal poetic form for modern poets. It’s an excellent image of our culture.

More Types Of Poems:

  1. Poetry 101: Kinds Of Poems: The Ballad
  2. Poetry 101: Kinds Of Poems – The Villanelle
  3. Poetry 101: Kinds Of Poems – The Limerick
  4. Poetry 101: Kinds Of Poems – The Haiku
  5. Poetry 101: Kinds Of Poems – Free Verse
  6. Poetry 101: Kinds Of Poems – The Sonnet

The Last Word

I hope this blog has piqued your curiosity in learning a new poetic form. Give it a try! Using a quote from your favourite poet really does help you write. I find that it does prevent the fear of the blank page – after all, the ending of each line is already there.

American poet Ravi Shankar has even called the Golden Shovel the ‘21st century sonnet,’ and I think he’s right. This form certainly has the potential to become just as popular.

Susanne Bennett

By Susanne Bennett. Susanne is a German-American writer who is a journalist by trade and a writer by heart. After years of working at German public radio and an online news portal, she has decided to accept challenges by Deadlines for Writers. Currently she is writing her first novel with them. She is known for overweight purses and carrying a novel everywhere. Follow her on Facebook.

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Posted on: 26th November 2025
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1 thought on “What’s A Golden Shovel Poem? & How Do I Write One?”

  1. Ducklady in Ireland

    Thank you for such a helpful and clear explanation of this form of poetry. I don’t normally like writing poetry according to a form, but now you’ve got me thinking of this as a small and private way of honouring my favourite poet.

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