One consequence of the lockdown for me has been walking round London far more. Places that I thought were far away, turned out to be only a nice stroll away. During my various London walks, I discovered a great journey to work along the canal bank. My canal commute takes me through a beautiful part of London and I will not be returning to my old route after finding it. There are some great discoveries to be made on the canal, one of which is the ‘Word on the Water‘, which is a bookshop on a canal boat near Granary Square. For a while now, I have enjoyed browsing through their selection and it was here, that I discovered this week’s book.
Today, we will be looking at ‘The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah’. Benjamin Zephaniah, born in Birmingham to Caribbean parents in 1958, describes himself as a poet, writer, lyricist, musician, and naughty boy. This book is an autobiography of the amazing and incredibly full life that he has lived. After reading this, I was shocked that one person could fit so much into their life and he continues to add to the accolades that he has achieved. In just one year, Zephaniah performed in every continent in the world. This book ‘documents his life from the sound systems of Birmingham to the world stage.’
To end, here is the start of my favourites of his poems, ‘Dis Poetry’:
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,
Read the rest @ http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/poetry/benjamin-zephaniah.html