Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
...
Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmas
Cos' turkeys just wanna hav fun
Turkeys are cool, turkeys are wicked
An every turkey has a Mum.
...
I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my land.
...
At the bottom of my garden
There's a hedgehog and a frog
And a lot of creepy-crawlies
Living underneath a log,
...
Dis poetry is like a riddim dat drops
De tongue fires a riddim dat shoots like shots
Dis poetry is designed fe rantin
Dance hall style, big mouth chanting,
...
In Hawaii they Hula
They Tango in Argentina
They Reggae in Jamaica
And they Rumba down in Cuba,
...
I used to think nurses
Were women,
I used to think police
Were men,
...
Mirror mirror on the wall
Could you please return our ball
Our football went through your crack
You have two now
...
The coconuts have got the jobs.
The race industry is a growth industry.
We despairing, they careering.
We want more peace they want more police.
...
Benjamin Zephaniah was born on April 15, 1958 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Peaky Blinders (2013), Percy Lifar and Standing Firm: Football's Windrush Story (2021). He was previously married to Amina. So, what is Benjamin Zephaniah famous for? Here, Benjamin Zephaniah poems and facts.
Dr. Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah grew up in Birmingham, England. He cannot recall a period when he did not write poetry, and this had nothing to do with school, where poetry meant very little to him; in fact, he had completed full-time study at the age of 13.
His poetry is heavily influenced by Jamaican music and poetry, as well as what he refers to as "street politics." His first real public performance was in church when he was ten years old, and by the age of fifteen, he had developed a strong following in his hometown of Handsworth, where he had established a reputation as a young poet capable of speaking on local and international issues.
He was previously described as "Britain's most filmed, photographed, and recognisable poet" due to his ability to perform on stage, but especially on television, bringing Dub Poetry directly into British living rooms. The mission was to take poetry everywhere; he despised the dead image that academia and the establishment had given poetry and declared that he was out to popularize poetry by reaching out to people who did not read books; those who were interested in books could now see a book come to life on stage. This poetry was political, musical, radical, timely, and shown on television.
His book publishing, record releases, and television appearances surged in the 1990s in the United Kingdom, but he has since focused on performing outside of Europe. He feels at home everywhere the oral tradition is still alive and well, and some of his most memorable trips have taken him to South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, and Colombia. In reality, life has been one lengthy journey, yet this is the only way the oral tradition can continue to exist. He performed on every continent within a 22-day span in 1991.
The British writer Benjamin Zephaniah is known for his poetry as well as novels, plays, and other works. His poetry is called “dub poetry,” which means that is performed—the words are recited over the beat of reggae music.
Biko the Greatness
City River Blues
Dis Poetry
Eat Your Words
Everybody Is Doing It
Faceless
Fair Play
It’s Work
Miss World
Nature Trail
Neighbours
People will always need people
Ride
S.O.S [Save Our Sons]
The British
The Death Of Joy Gardner
The Race Industry
We Refugees
What Stephen Lawrence Has Taught Us
White Comedy
Who's Who
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