ARTICLE: The Puffin Post
Find out how Benjamin started writing poetry and what he does in his spare time.
The Puffin Post - Autumn 1997
When did you realise your destiny was as a poet?
I was born a poet. I really can't remember a time when I wasn't 'poeting' as I call it.As a very young child I used to do word games in my head, and my parents used to worry because I didn't take an interest in Action man and toy cars and fire engines - I'd be happy to just sit in a corner and play with words!
I wasn't writing my poetry down in the early days - it was all just committed to memory. My first public performance was at the age of 11 in my church Sunday school! Then there came a time in my life when I started to think about it a bit more seriously, and I started writing it down, but poetry has always been a part of my life.
Was it difficult to get your books published?
In the beginning I went around to different publishers trying to get published, and I used to get a lot of people saying to me that they didn't publish Rastafarian poetry of black poetry, and I used to say "Well, I happen to be black and I happen to be Rastafarin, but my poetry is for everyone - honest!" Sometimes they would read it but htose that did read it didn't always understand it. They didn't hear the language behind it, they didn't see the rhythm in it and they didn't understand it. They didn't understand that it was performance poetry, so I got a lot of refusals and rejections, but on the other hand I was performing, and the audiences were loving it - it was like two different worlds.
I do think sometimes that critics are saying one thing and the people are are saying another. I go for the public sometimes - I think they override the critics and the critics have to eat their words.
One day I went to this book shop and they said "We'll publish you," but I had to help staple the pages together and things like that - I thought if made sense really. That book was called Pen Rhythm and it was back in 1980.
A lot of your poems are about political issues - is it difficult writing poetry for children about these sorts of subjects?
Well I always thought I wrote poetry - I didn't really understand the difference between children's poetry and adult's poetry, then someone wuggested I did a book especially for children, working on the presentation a lot more. I was a bit reluctant at first I must admit, but I did it and I've never looked back since!
A lot of kids say to me that what they like about my poetry is that it's fun, but it does talk about racism, bullying and other issues - it doesn't just paint a rosy picture.
I've travelled a lot and seen a lot of terrible things. There was one tour I did in the Middle East where I got caught in the middle of a shoot-out and my friends often say to me "How can you see things like that, then sit down and write poems for children?" Well, I just answer that I write about the real world. Just because I'm writing for children it doesn't mean that I can't be political, it just means I can't be party political. You have to be a bit more imaginative than just throwing out slogans, so it's made me look at the world differently.
Why is it important to perform your poetry?
Because such a small percentage of people read books. Performing it brings it to a lot more people. People who are poor can't afford books - they want to buy books, but they don't want to risk it if they don't quite know what they're getting. I mean a lot of people sit in front of the television all day, so it seemed logical to me to do on television!
I think that to a certain extent poetry has been made into something that you can only do if you're really clever - whereas a long time ago it was part of everybody's life and I see myself on a mission to take it back to the people.
I didn't learn to read and write until the age of 21, so the idea of putting my ideas down in a book was way down the agenda for me! I always try and encourage people to actually say poems and rap then - you can sit down and read quietl but teachers tell me they get the whole class to read them out and perform them and to me it's just a lot more fun.
Is that another reason why you use rap - to get your message across to more people?
Rap is a form of street poetry. It used to frustrate me when I went to schools and I'd say to kids "Do you like poetry?" and they'd say "No", then I'd see them in the clubs at night doing rap and I don't think it's any different. I speak the way people speak on the street and my poems reflect that.What do you do in your free time?
Well, I've got this old sports car that I've renovated - it's a very special kind of car. I only drive it now and again. I also love Kung Fu - I've got a gym in the back of my house! I also collect bank notes - the older they are and the rarer they are the better. I puck them up when travelling and I go to dealers. You can pay up to £5000 for a really rare note. I say at performances "You know, I've got this hobby and you can all participate in it - I collect money!" and they all think I'm joking, but sometimes people come up to me after my perfomances and give me notes which is great.
Where would you most like to go in the world?
I'd like to go to Tibet - somewhere where there's few people and the air is still quite clean and unpolluted. It would be difficult being a vegan though - I'm told they eat a lot of yak! It's also very high up. It's one of the highest places in the world where people live.
When did you become vegan?
I became vegetarian at the age of 12, then I progressed to being a vegan a bit later! I always had this affinity with animals and I just couldn't eat them.
I'm involved with the Vegan Society and there are people that come to us that are not vegans but just want to know how to eat healthier. They ask questions like "If I ate just two meat meals a week, could I still be healthy?" We just give people advice on how to have balanced diets, even if it's not totally vegan, so we're trying to encourage people to eat healthier and to think about where animals come from and what sort of life they've had before.
What are your ambitions?
Whenever someone comes up to me and they say "You turned me on to poetry" that is my ambition being fulfilled. The thing that really frustrates me about politics is that politicians always claim to be speaking on the people's behalf but actually on so many issues politicians do not listen to the people, and if I can really help give a voice and inspire people to make their own poetry, that's fine by me.
I don't want to be rich - I've got friends who are rich and they're not happy you know! I don't want to become so famous that I can't walk the streets in peace. An ideal home for me would be in the middle of nowhere - I've always lived in cities. I'd like a nice country house where I could go jogging and have nice air and animals living around me. Apart from that I just want to keep doing what I'm doing. A similar question I've been asked before is "What would you want written on your tombstone?" and my answer would be "He tried to love everyone." It's as simple as that! Even my enemies - I tried to understand them.
