Benjamin Zephaniah dies at 65: All societies need such eloquent 'troublemakers' – Scotsman comment

Following his death at 65, the poet Benjamin Zephaniah will be missed by many for his ability to make people think and also smile

“I used to think nurses/ Were women/ I used to think police/ Were men,/ I used to think poets/ Were boring,/ Until I became one of them.” So wrote Benjamin Zephaniah, who has died at the age of 65, in his poem Who’s Who?, which neatly encapsulates his passion for equality and his trademark sense of humour.

Zephaniah’s left-wing politics may not have been for everyone but his poems were usually thought-provoking and often delivered with a twinkle in the eye that encouraged dialogue. He made people think, while also making them smile – a powerful combination that turned him into the UK’s best-known modern poet and saw him hailed as one of the best British writers of the post-war period.

He once said: “We need troublemakers to challenge the establishment. And I want to be one of those people who challenge the establishment.” All societies need 'troublemakers’ like Zephaniah, people who – rather than simply going with the flow – are willing and able to eloquently make a noise, shake things up, and put accepted wisdom and convention to the test. He will be missed.