Benjamin Zephaniah

(15 April 1958 / Birmingham)

poet Benjamin Zephaniah
#36 on top 500 poets
Benjamin Zephaniah
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Benjamin Zephaniah Poems

  • The British  Take some Picts, Celts and Silures And let them ...
  • Talking Turkeys!  Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmas Cos' ...
  • Dis Poetry  Dis poetry is like a riddim dat drops De tongue ...
  • We Refugees  I come from a musical place Where they shoot me ...
  • Nature Trail  At the bottom of my garden There's a hedgehog ...
  • White Comedy  I waz whitemailed By a white witch, Wid white ...
  • Who's Who  I used to think nurses Were women, I used to ...
All poems of Benjamin Zephaniah »


Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is a British Jamaican Rastafarian writer and dub poet. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008.

Life and Work

Zephaniah was born and raised in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, which he called the "Jamaican capital of Europe". He is the son of a Barbadian postman and a Jamaican nurse. A dyslexic, he attended an approved school but left aged 13 unable to read or write.

He writes that his poetry is strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he calls "street politics". His first ... more »

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Comments about Benjamin Zephaniah

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  • Reginald Bartolo (10/15/2018 4:47:00 AM)

    Dear Madam / Sir,

    We at the Malta University Publishing representing the University of Malta wish to ask you for the copyright permission to publish your Poem (We Refugees) in order to include it the Secondary Education Literature Syllabus for next scholastic year.

    Can you please give us the go ahead?

    Thank you and Kind Regards,

    Reginald Bartolo
    Administrator
    Malta University Publishing

    0 person liked.
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  • bigmansaff (10/12/2018 11:19:00 AM)

    i like this guy because our form group is called 7Z-MBA The z stands for zephaniah like itttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

    1 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • yaboifatboi (9/18/2018 6:23:00 AM)

    very big gay
    big peepee
    big bobs

    2 person liked.
    		9 person did not like.
  • Enter name here (9/5/2018 10:16:00 AM)

    so funny! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! :) :)

    7 person liked.
    		5 person did not like.
  • lil pump (6/17/2018 6:16:00 AM)

    he can rhyme better than me

    16 person liked.
    		7 person did not like.
  • D’anton (6/13/2018 7:57:00 AM)

    He is very funny and likes reggae

    15 person liked.
    		7 person did not like.
  • elysha (6/6/2018 4:37:00 AM)

    really good
    love that song

    16 person liked.
    		10 person did not like.
  • loly pop (5/24/2018 5:54:00 AM)

    I love this dude he is a rastaferian [3

    12 person liked.
    		9 person did not like.
  • trh56 (5/22/2018 10:49:00 AM)

    he is such a great poet.

    11 person liked.
    		8 person did not like.
  • bobobbob (5/22/2018 8:19:00 AM)

    I am in class getting facts about him he is 60

    17 person liked.
    		7 person did not like.
Read all 48 comments »
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Best Poem of Benjamin Zephaniah

The British

Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.

Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.

Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.

Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis,
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.

Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, ...

Read the full of The British
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