Terrance Hayes was inspired to create the golden shovel poetic form to pay homage to fellow American poet Gwendolyn Brooks and her 1959 poem “We Real Cool.” Hayes had wanted his five-year-old son to memorize the poem and practiced reciting it with him. The exercise led Hayes to write a new poem, titled “The Golden Shovel” (2010), that incorporated Brooks’s words. Many other poets have since used the golden shovel form to write poems.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.
Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style