What Is a Golden Shovel Poem?
Quick answer: A golden shovel poem takes a line from an existing poem and uses each word as the end words of new lines. Here is how the form works, with an example.
A golden shovel is a poem that borrows a line from an existing poem and uses each of its words, in order, as the end words of the new poem's lines. If the borrowed line has ten words, your poem has ten lines, and reading down the right-hand margin reveals the original line intact. The source is always credited, usually with an epigraph reading 'after' the original poet.
Terrance Hayes invented the form in 2010 with his poem The Golden Shovel, built from Gwendolyn Brooks's We Real Cool, and the form takes its name from the pool hall in her poem. It has since become one of the most popular contemporary forms, partly because it doubles as a tribute and partly because it is a superb exercise in enjambment.
How the form works, step by step
First, choose a line you love from another poet's work. Write its words down the right margin of your page, one word per line, in order. Then write toward each of those end words: every line of your poem must arrive naturally at the word waiting for it. Finally, credit the source under your title, for example 'after Gwendolyn Brooks'.
The craft challenge is making the borrowed words feel inevitable rather than bolted on. Weak golden shovels read like sentences chopped to hit their targets. Strong ones use enjambment so the end words carry double weight: closing one thought while opening the next.
A worked micro-example
Take Emily Dickinson's public domain line 'Hope is the thing with feathers'. Six words, so six lines. Here is an original miniature: 'My grandmother said you cannot bury hope, / it keeps its own weather. Whatever is / lost returns as birdsong through the / kitchen window, small and stubborn, the one thing / winter never argued with, / a pocketful of feathers.' Read the final words downward and Dickinson's line reappears.
Notice how the borrowed words land on different parts of speech than they held in the original. 'Is' becomes a hinge across a line break; 'the' hides in plain sight. That flexibility is what keeps the form from feeling mechanical.
Credit, copyright, and choosing a line
Always name the source poet and poem. The form is understood as homage, and the 'after' convention makes the debt visible. If you plan to publish, borrowing from public domain work is safest; a single line from a modern poem is generally treated as fair practice within this named form, but journals expect the credit line without exception.
Choose lines with concrete nouns and strong verbs. A line of ten small function words gives you nothing to push against, while a line with words like 'shovel', 'lurk', or 'jazz' hands you images for free. Golden shovels reward you for picking a line you would want to argue with or answer, and they make excellent contest pieces because the structural discipline is visible to a judge scoring on structure and language.
What poets can take from this
- Write the borrowed words down the right margin first, before drafting anything.
- Enjamb aggressively so end words open new thoughts instead of just closing old ones.
- Change the part of speech of borrowed words where you can; it hides the scaffolding.
- Pick a source line with at least two concrete nouns.
- Read your finished poem aloud without looking at the margin; if it sounds chopped, revise the joins.
- Never skip the 'after' credit, even for public domain sources.
Try it yourself
Write a golden shovel using Dickinson's line 'I dwell in Possibility'. Four words, four lines, and make the poem about a room in a house you no longer live in.
Questions
Do you have to credit the original poet in a golden shovel?
Yes, always. The convention is an epigraph such as 'after Gwendolyn Brooks' beneath your title. The form is built as homage, and publishing one without credit reads as plagiarism.
Can you use more than one line for a golden shovel?
Yes. Terrance Hayes used the whole of We Real Cool in his original. Multiple lines simply give you more end words and a longer poem; the words must still appear in their original order.
What is a double golden shovel?
A variant where borrowed words run down both margins, so the first and last words of each line come from source texts. It is considerably harder and best attempted after a few standard ones.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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