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Hi, everyone.

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My name is David Toland,

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and I'm honored to serve 
as Governor Laura Kelly's

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lieutenant governor 
for the great state of Kansas.

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The program 
you're about to watch showcases

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some of our state's 
most talented young people

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performing at this year's

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Poetry Out 
Loud State Finals in Topeka.

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The statewide competition 
started at the local level

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in classrooms 
and schools across Kansas.

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Each of the students 
you're about to see

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then competed 
at the regional level

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before advancing to this year's 
state finals.

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Engagement in the creative arts 
like these poetry readings,

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provides so much value to Kansas 
students.

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It helps build self-confidence

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while spotlighting 
the next generation of thinkers,

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artists, communicators 
and leaders in our communities.

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We're excited to share this 
outstanding program with you,

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and we're proud that the Kansas 
Creative Arts Industries

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Commission has partnered 
once again with Poetry Out Loud

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to support a variety of arts 
and cultural

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development programs 
throughout the Sunflower State.

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So to get the program 
started, it's

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now my pleasure 
to introduce our host,

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Kansas Poet 
Laureate Traci Brimhal.

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We hope you enjoy 
Poetry Out Loud.

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Welcome to the 2023 Kansas 
Poetry Out Loud Recitation

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Recitation Contest.

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I am your host, Traci Brimhal 
the current poet

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laureate of the State of Kansas,

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and I am so grateful 
that we are able to gather

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in the name of poetry.

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Speaking of gratitude, 
I want to take this moment

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and thank our sponsors,

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the Kansas Creative 
Arts Industries Commission,

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the Poetry Foundation and the 
National Endowment for the Arts.

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Without them, 
none of this would be possible.

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Pablo Neruda said "“On our earth 
before

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writing was invented, before 
the printing press was invented,

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poetry flourished.

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And that is why we know 
poetry is like bread,

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It should be shared by all

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By all our vast, incredible,

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extraordinary 
family of humanity"”.

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It is in that spirit of poetry 
as nourishment,

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and that poetry is spoken 
that gathers us here today.

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Poetry Out 
Loud is a national arts

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education program 
that encourages

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the nation's youth

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to learn about great poetry

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through memorization 
and performance.

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Reciting great poetry connects 
us to an ageless art form,

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to the timelessness 
of great poets,

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to abstract ideas 
and higher critical thinking,

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and ultimately to deeper 
life experiences.

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Here to explain how the event 
unfolded across the state

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this year is Kate VanSteenhuyse

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Director of Kansas Creative 
Arts Industries Commission

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and State Poetry OutLoud 
Coordinator Cheryl Germann.

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In 2006, the National Endowment 
for the Arts

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and the Poetry Foundation 
partnered

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with State arts 
agencies across the country to

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inaugurate

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Poetry Out Loud, 
a national recitation contest.

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The Kansas 
Creative Arts Industries

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Commission is proud to provide 
Poetry Out

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Loud program to high school 
students statewide

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and is excited to partner 
with KTWU to bring poetry

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into living rooms across Kansas 
and celebrate the long road and

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hard work 
these students took to.

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Get here today.

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Poetry Out 
Loud begins with teachers

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and students in classrooms 
and schools across the state.

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Each school is able to send one 
representative to their area's

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regional competition.

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The number of competitors 
at each of the four

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regional competitions determines

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how many advance to today's 
state finals.

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And today, one Kansas student 
will become the Kansas Poetry

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Out Loud Champion and advance 
to the National Finals.

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Thank you to Kansas

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Regional Coordinators 
Stacy Chesnut, Cynthia Roth,

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Kayla Pruitt and CodI Fenwick 
for your hard work

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in bringing this program 
to all parts of the state.

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It is now

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my pleasure to introduce our 
panel of distinguished judges.

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Judges, Please 
stand when I call your name,

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a seventh generation Kansan.

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Eric McHenry teaches English 
at Washburn University

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and was the poet laureate 
of Kansas from 2015 to 2017.

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His books of poetry 
include Pot Scrubber Lullabies,

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which won the Kate Tufts 
Discovery Award and Odd

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Evening, a finalist 
for the Pulitzer Prize.

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His poems have appeared 
in the Three Penny Review,

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The New Republic,

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The Yale Review, The Times 
Literary Supplement and Poetry

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Northwest, from whom he received 
the Theodore Roethke Prize.

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He also writes 
essays and criticism

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for the New York Times, 
The American Scholar, The Boston

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Globe and other publications.

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Laura Lorson is a broadcast 
announcer,

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audio producer, show director

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and editor for Kansas 
Public Radio in Lawrence,

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a native of Louisville, 
Kentucky,

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She has worked in public 
broadcasting for KPR,

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NPR, the BBC and the BBC World 
Service for more than 30 years,

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with a focus on stories

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pertaining to the fine arts, 
humanities and liberal arts.

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Her work is focused on the idea 
that the humanities

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are not optional, that they are 
an integral part of modern life

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and are necessary 
bedrock to the works

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and ideas that make life 
richer and more fulfilling.

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Cash Hollistah

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is a national hip hop 
recording artist, poet,

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speaker, arts 
educator and philanthropist.

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Born and raised in Salina, Cash 
cites a creative writing class

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he took as a sophomore 
in high school

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as the main catalyst 
for pursuing a career in music.

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Cash's music has been featured 
on MTV, VH1 and Postmates.

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His work with Humanities Kansas 
as a speaker, as well as his

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work with students in schools 
and churches across the state,

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have gained him a reputation 
as a community leader.

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Currently, Hollistah 
sits on the board of directors

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of the Kansas Music 
Hall of Fame.

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Brennan Bestwick is a poet 
from Randolph, Kansas,

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who earned his M.A.

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from Kansas State University.

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He is an AWP Intro to 
Journal's award winner

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and the recent recipient 
of a Glenna Luschei Prairie

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Schooner Award for his poem 
Let Us Pray.

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His writing appears in Best 
New Poets, Colorado

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Review, 
The Journal, Winter Tangerine,

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The Offing, EcoTheo 
Review and Elsewhere.

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Robert Hubbard, today's Accuracy 
Judge, has been

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on the periphery of the arts 
community for some time.

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In addition to working 
as a script supervisor for local

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filmmakers Kevin Willmott 
and Patrick Ray, among others,

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he has made his own short films 
and has written film and music

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related content for websites 
and underground publications

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such as Film Score Monthly, 
Microfilm,

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and 366 Weird Movies.

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We are so grateful to have 
these accomplished judges

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with us today.

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The writer Zadie Smith said 
"“Time is how you spend your love

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and we are so glad 
that these judges

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are offering their 
time to their love of poetry.

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Here is how the contest works.

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Students have each selected

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three poems from the Poetry Out 
Loud anthology.

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Within their selections, 
they must include a poem

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that was written 
before the 20th century

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and a poem that is 25 lines 
or fewer.

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In each round,

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students will be called 
in a randomly determined order

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to recite one of the three poems 
he or she has prepared.

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Before each recitation

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the students should identify

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the title of the poem 
and the author only.

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After the student finishes,

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the judges, without conferring,

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will take a moment 
to individually mark

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their evaluation sheets.

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The evaluation sheets will be 
collected and quickly verified.

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The next student

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will be called onto the stage 
to recite their poem.

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During each round 
of the contest

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the judges will assess each 
recitation on these criteria.

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Physical presence and posture. 
Voice

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projection and articulation.

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Appropriateness of dramatization 
Evidence

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of understanding, 
and overall performance.

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In addition, each recitation 
is scored for accuracy.

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Following the second round,

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the three students 
receiving the highest

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total scores in the first two 
rounds will be the finalists

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competing in round three. 
After round three presentation

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the final scores will be 
tabulated.

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The student with the highest 
total score following round

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three will win the Kansas 
Poetry Out Loud competition.

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Let's get started.

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Please help me. 
Welcome to the stage.

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Allie Cloyd.

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Famous by Naomi 
Shihab Nye.

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The River is famous to the fish.

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The loud voice is famous to

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silence, which knew 
it would inherit the earth

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before anybody said so.

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The cat sleeping on the 
fence is famous to the birds

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watching 
him from the bird house.

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The tear

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is famous

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briefly to the cheek.

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The idea you carry close to 
your bosom

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is famous to your bosom.

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The boot is famous to the earth.

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More famous than the dress shoe,

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which is famous only to floors.

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The bent photograph is famous 
to the one who carries it

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and not at all famous 
to the one who is pictured.

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I want to be famous

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to shuffling men who smile 
while crossing streets.

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Sticky children in grocery 
lines.

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Famous 
as the one who smiled back.

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I want to be famous in the way 
a pulley is famous

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or a buttonhole.

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Not because it 
did anything spectacular, but

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because it never forgot

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what it could do.

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Please help me

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welcome 
to the stage, Petr Sotola.

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Art versus trade

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by James Weldon Johnson.

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Trade.

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Trade versus Art.

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Brain.

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Brain versus heart.

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Oh, the earthiness of these

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hard, hardy times 
when clinking dollars

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and jingling dimes join 
all the final music of the soul

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life as an octopus 
with but this creed

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that all the world 
was made to serve.

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His greed.

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Trade has spread out.

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His mighty myriad claw.

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And drawn 
into its foul, polluted maw.

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The brightest and the best

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well nigh has he drained dry

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the sacred fount of truth, 
and is forsooth

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He has left yet some struggling 
streams from it to go.

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He has contaminated

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So their flow, that truth scarce

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Is it true?

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Poor art with struggling gasp 
like strangles

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dying in his mighty grasp,

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he locks his grimy fingers 
bout her snowy throat so tender.

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Is there no power to rescue her?

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Protect defend her.

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Shall art be left to perish?

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Shall all the images her shrines 
cherish be left to this

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iconoclast to vulgar trade?

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Oh, then mankind 
had less of brain

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and more of heart.

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Oh, did the world had

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less of trade and more 
of art.

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Then would there be less 
grinding down the poor,

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Then would men learn to 
love each other more;

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For trade stalks 
like a giant through the land

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bearing aloft the rich 
in his high hand

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while down beneath

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his mighty ponderous tread,

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he crushes those who cry

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for daily bread.

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Please help me

255
00:13:15,094 --> 00:13:17,396
welcome to the stage 
Jaden Huehl.

256
00:13:17,396 --> 00:13:19,665
Free Radical

257
00:13:20,032 --> 00:13:22,301
by Alison C Rollins

258
00:13:26,305 --> 00:13:29,141
Before Gilgamesh 
invented the Kaleidoscope

259
00:13:29,575 --> 00:13:31,744
and Galileo The Rubik's Cube

260
00:13:32,378 --> 00:13:35,147
before the Scimitar Horned oryx 
went missing

261
00:13:35,447 --> 00:13:37,950
Before the tamarind trees 
went bare

262
00:13:38,617 --> 00:13:42,188
for the stars, 
eyelids were wrapped in tin foil

263
00:13:42,188 --> 00:13:44,824
before the leaves 
could gnaw on water

264
00:13:45,624 --> 00:13:48,260
before electrons made donations 
before

265
00:13:48,260 --> 00:13:51,730
the owl wore a mask, before 
the wind had a sound, before

266
00:13:51,730 --> 00:13:55,100
the moon had a name 
and the smoke a spine

267
00:13:55,968 --> 00:13:58,204
before tulips 
crossed their legs

268
00:13:58,737 --> 00:14:02,274
Before the tongue was armored 
before the ghosts rode

269
00:14:02,274 --> 00:14:05,945
centaurs to riots 
before the cyberspace was culled

270
00:14:06,178 --> 00:14:08,681
and bellybutton sewn to wombs

271
00:14:09,548 --> 00:14:14,520
before the taste had an after 
before intellect became property

272
00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:19,124
and thunder premeditated 
before the new new world

273
00:14:19,124 --> 00:14:21,827
Before a stone 
wished to be more than a stone

274
00:14:22,161 --> 00:14:24,997
Before 
we had a change of clothes

275
00:14:25,631 --> 00:14:29,168
Before the grass was colorblind 
Before the rivers lost

276
00:14:29,168 --> 00:14:32,071
their fingers 
and the rain stopped teething

277
00:14:32,905 --> 00:14:36,675
Before the kings were all behead 
The grave digger, neither young

278
00:14:36,675 --> 00:14:40,412
nor old before 
a lion was still a lion before

279
00:14:40,412 --> 00:14:42,748
the girls were all killed

280
00:14:43,515 --> 00:14:46,151
Before the trapeze gave way.

281
00:14:47,519 --> 00:14:50,322
We hung

282
00:14:50,322 --> 00:14:54,059
suspended in time 
by the arches of our curved feet

283
00:14:54,426 --> 00:14:57,396
And this tickled 
the gods tickled them to death.

284
00:14:58,697 --> 00:15:01,567
And I think 
our silence cut us loose.

285
00:15:02,334 --> 00:15:04,470
Let us go falling 
from the doubt,

286
00:15:04,670 --> 00:15:08,507
secretly thrilled at the hands 
and ever so eager

287
00:15:08,974 --> 00:15:10,409
to break.

288
00:15:16,782 --> 00:15:17,416
Please help me

289
00:15:17,683 --> 00:15:19,485
welcome to the stage, 
Juan Garcia.

290
00:15:20,586 --> 00:15:22,855
And if I did, what then?

291
00:15:22,855 --> 00:15:27,593
By George Gascoigne.

292
00:15:27,593 --> 00:15:29,762
And if I did, what then?

293
00:15:30,396 --> 00:15:36,101
Are you aggrieved therefore? 
The sea hath fish for every man.

294
00:15:36,101 --> 00:15:41,807
And what would you have more?

295
00:15:41,807 --> 00:15:44,310
Thus did my mistress once

296
00:15:44,877 --> 00:15:51,016
amaze my mind with doubt 
and popped the question

297
00:15:51,016 --> 00:15:55,688
for the nonce to beat my brains 
about. Where to

298
00:15:56,021 --> 00:15:58,324
I thus replied,

299
00:15:58,324 --> 00:16:02,461
Each fisherman 
can wish that all the seas

300
00:16:02,461 --> 00:16:07,399
at every tide were his 
alone to fish, and so did I.

301
00:16:09,134 --> 00:16:11,470
In vain.

302
00:16:11,470 --> 00:16:14,173
But since it may not be,

303
00:16:14,173 --> 00:16:18,944
let such fish there as find 
the gain and leave the loss

304
00:16:18,944 --> 00:16:23,382
for me. 
and with such luck and loss,

305
00:16:24,583 --> 00:16:27,353
I will content myself

306
00:16:27,553 --> 00:16:29,788
till tides of turning

307
00:16:29,788 --> 00:16:32,858
time may toss 
such fissures on the shelf,

308
00:16:33,325 --> 00:16:38,330
and when they stick on sands 
that every man may see,

309
00:16:38,764 --> 00:16:42,801
then what 
I laugh and clap my hands

310
00:16:42,801 --> 00:16:47,973
as they do now at me.

311
00:16:55,981 --> 00:16:56,648
Please help me

312
00:16:56,648 --> 00:16:57,916
welcome to the stage

313
00:16:57,916 --> 00:17:00,352
Victoria Jelks.

314
00:17:00,352 --> 00:17:02,354
Frederick Douglass

315
00:17:02,354 --> 00:17:04,757
by Robert Hayden

316
00:17:09,028 --> 00:17:13,132
When it is finally

317
00:17:14,433 --> 00:17:19,972
ours, this freedom,

318
00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:28,680
this liberty, this beautiful

319
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:32,518
and terrible thing,

320
00:17:32,518 --> 00:17:34,686
needful to man

321
00:17:34,686 --> 00:17:38,524
as air usable as earth

322
00:17:38,791 --> 00:17:41,060
when it belongs at last

323
00:17:41,927 --> 00:17:45,064
to all,

324
00:17:45,064 --> 00:17:47,966
when it is truly instinct

325
00:17:49,068 --> 00:17:52,571
brain matter diastole, systole,

326
00:17:52,805 --> 00:17:55,974
reflex action

327
00:17:56,442 --> 00:17:58,444
when it is finally

328
00:17:59,445 --> 00:18:04,483
one, when it

329
00:18:04,483 --> 00:18:08,187
is more than the gaudy mumbo

330
00:18:08,187 --> 00:18:13,992
jumbo of politicians. This man,

331
00:18:15,527 --> 00:18:19,364
this Douglass,

332
00:18:19,364 --> 00:18:23,836
this former slave,

333
00:18:23,836 --> 00:18:27,573
this Negro beaten to his knees,

334
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:29,942
exiled,

335
00:18:30,676 --> 00:18:33,445
visioning a world

336
00:18:33,445 --> 00:18:35,814
where none is

337
00:18:35,814 --> 00:18:39,585
lonely, none hunted,

338
00:18:41,487 --> 00:18:44,723
alien.

339
00:18:44,723 --> 00:18:49,795
This man 
superb in love and logic.

340
00:18:49,795 --> 00:18:53,999
This man shall be remembered.

341
00:18:53,999 --> 00:18:57,836
Oh, not with statues rhetoric,

342
00:18:58,137 --> 00:19:02,040
not with legends and poems 
and wreaths

343
00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,144
of bronze alone, but

344
00:19:05,144 --> 00:19:08,313
with the lives

345
00:19:08,313 --> 00:19:12,417
grown out of his life.

346
00:19:12,417 --> 00:19:17,122
The lives flashing, his dream

347
00:19:17,122 --> 00:19:20,826
of the beautiful,

348
00:19:20,826 --> 00:19:22,161
needful

349
00:19:22,161 --> 00:19:25,998
thing.

350
00:19:31,036 --> 00:19:31,637
Please help me.

351
00:19:31,970 --> 00:19:34,740
Welcome to the stage, 
Alissa Berrie

352
00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:38,443
Consider the hands that write 
this letter. By Aracelis Girmay

353
00:19:38,443 --> 00:19:40,746
after Marina Wilson.

354
00:19:42,214 --> 00:19:45,184
Consider the hands that write 
this letter

355
00:19:46,051 --> 00:19:49,421
left palm 
pressed flat against the paper,

356
00:19:49,421 --> 00:19:53,058
as we have done 
before over my heart

357
00:19:53,792 --> 00:19:56,628
in peace 
or reverence to the sea,

358
00:19:56,862 --> 00:20:00,732
some beautiful thing 
I saw once felt once

359
00:20:01,266 --> 00:20:05,904
snow falling like rice 
flung from a Giants wedding

360
00:20:06,104 --> 00:20:10,175
or strangest of strange birds, 
and consider

361
00:20:10,442 --> 00:20:13,412
then the right hand 
and how it is a fist

362
00:20:13,912 --> 00:20:17,249
within which a sharpened 
utensil similar to

363
00:20:17,249 --> 00:20:18,850
the way I've held a spade,

364
00:20:19,818 --> 00:20:20,419
the horses

365
00:20:20,953 --> 00:20:23,522
reins loping the very fist 
I've seen from roads

366
00:20:23,522 --> 00:20:26,892
through Limay & Estelí. 
For years

367
00:20:27,326 --> 00:20:30,629
I've come to sit this way 
one hand open,

368
00:20:30,862 --> 00:20:34,967
one hand close, 
like a farmer who puts down seed

369
00:20:34,967 --> 00:20:38,270
and gathers up 
food will come from that farm.

370
00:20:39,137 --> 00:20:43,475
Or Yes, it is like the way 
I've danced my left hand open

371
00:20:43,475 --> 00:20:48,213
around a shoulder, right hand 
inside of another hand.

372
00:20:48,213 --> 00:20:51,984
And how I pray, 
I pray for this to be my way.

373
00:20:51,984 --> 00:20:56,355
Sweet Work alluded to in 
the body's position to its paper

374
00:20:57,489 --> 00:21:02,361
left hand, right 
hand like an eye open

375
00:21:02,361 --> 00:21:05,264
an eye closed 
one hand flat

376
00:21:05,530 --> 00:21:09,901
against the trap door, 
the other hand knocking

377
00:21:11,169 --> 00:21:13,905
knock.

378
00:21:20,145 --> 00:21:23,248
While we prepare for round two, 
let's take a moment to

379
00:21:23,248 --> 00:21:26,618
meet some of our contestants.

380
00:21:28,253 --> 00:21:29,554
My name is Alissa Berrie.

381
00:21:29,554 --> 00:21:31,690
I'm a senior at Olathe Northwest 
High School.

382
00:21:32,424 --> 00:21:34,526
This is my first time 
at Poetry Out Loud.

383
00:21:34,526 --> 00:21:37,362
It's pretty exciting. 
A little nerve wracking.

384
00:21:37,362 --> 00:21:39,765
So my name is Petr Sotola.

385
00:21:39,765 --> 00:21:42,334
I'm a senior 
at Gerard High School,

386
00:21:42,834 --> 00:21:46,505
and I'm a foreign exchange 
student from Czech Republic.

387
00:21:47,506 --> 00:21:51,009
It is my first year competing 
and it's been wonderful.

388
00:21:51,810 --> 00:21:55,180
I am Allie Cloyd from Manhattan 
High School

389
00:21:55,180 --> 00:21:57,749
in Manhattan, Kansas, 
and I'm a junior this year.

390
00:21:58,650 --> 00:22:02,187
This is my second year 
competing in poetry out loud,

391
00:22:02,187 --> 00:22:06,692
and I enjoyed it a lot last 
year, knew I wanted to come back

392
00:22:06,692 --> 00:22:10,962
and I always enjoy meeting 
other people

393
00:22:10,962 --> 00:22:14,132
who are interested 
in and love poetry

394
00:22:14,399 --> 00:22:16,635
and getting exposed 
to a lot of new poetry

395
00:22:16,635 --> 00:22:19,638
through Poetry Out Loud.

396
00:22:26,812 --> 00:22:30,148
I chose "“Consider the Hands that 
Write this Letter"”

397
00:22:30,148 --> 00:22:31,883
by Aracelis Girmay

398
00:22:31,883 --> 00:22:33,618
"“Truth is, 
I would like to escape myself"”

399
00:22:33,618 --> 00:22:35,721
by Nour Al Ghraowi 
and Shall Earth

400
00:22:35,721 --> 00:22:39,157
No More Inspire Thee by Emily 
Bronte, all of which are written

401
00:22:39,157 --> 00:22:42,494
by strong female individuals 
that reflect my writing style.

402
00:22:44,096 --> 00:22:45,797
So first poem that I chose

403
00:22:45,797 --> 00:22:49,067
is Art versus Trade by James 
Weldon Johnson.

404
00:22:49,601 --> 00:22:52,938
And I really like the poem 
because it's talking

405
00:22:53,405 --> 00:22:57,209
about their poverty 
and about like poor people

406
00:22:57,209 --> 00:23:01,012
versus rich people, which I find 
as a quite interesting topic.

407
00:23:01,513 --> 00:23:05,951
And then I chose the Tyger 
by William Blake,

408
00:23:06,451 --> 00:23:08,620
and I just really like that 
one poem

409
00:23:09,121 --> 00:23:10,555
because it was in one TV show

410
00:23:10,555 --> 00:23:12,924
that I used to watch with 
my parents called The Mentalist.

411
00:23:13,992 --> 00:23:17,295
My first poem, Famous 
by Naomi Shihab Nye

412
00:23:17,295 --> 00:23:22,200
is about kind of

413
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,837
what famous can mean in 
everyday life and some beautiful

414
00:23:25,837 --> 00:23:29,574
things all around us that are 
maybe famous to each other.

415
00:23:29,574 --> 00:23:32,110
And I just think it's a fun, 
really beautiful poem.

416
00:23:32,744 --> 00:23:36,982
My second poem is Meeting at 
an Airport by Taha Muhammad Ali.

417
00:23:37,282 --> 00:23:40,419
It's a little bit 
more of a story of two people

418
00:23:40,419 --> 00:23:43,755
who are really close 
but then are separated

419
00:23:43,755 --> 00:23:45,657
for a long time 
and then sort of reconnect.

420
00:23:45,657 --> 00:23:49,461
But it's not quite 
the same after as many years.

421
00:23:50,162 --> 00:23:54,399
And the third poem, The Paradox, 
I think is really cool.

422
00:23:54,399 --> 00:23:57,702
Every time I read these poems, 
there's something new to find.

423
00:23:58,837 --> 00:24:01,973
Peeling back the layers 
of all the different things

424
00:24:02,707 --> 00:24:04,943
that the author was trying 
to communicate through them.

425
00:24:04,943 --> 00:24:07,145
And I think the paradox 
is really cool.

426
00:24:07,946 --> 00:24:09,714
At least my interpretation.

427
00:24:09,714 --> 00:24:13,752
The Speaker is 
sort of a version of death

428
00:24:14,085 --> 00:24:18,490
and as the name suggests, 
is very paradoxical elements

429
00:24:18,490 --> 00:24:19,057
about death.

430
00:24:19,658 --> 00:24:21,493
But in the end, it's 
kind of about the idea that

431
00:24:22,227 --> 00:24:24,663
you can find liberation 
and freedom in death.

432
00:24:24,663 --> 00:24:26,932
And death is not 
what we make it sometimes

433
00:24:34,072 --> 00:24:38,210
I like poetry because it's 
just a way to express yourself

434
00:24:38,210 --> 00:24:41,713
very passionately 
and just it's an art

435
00:24:41,713 --> 00:24:43,682
form of expression.

436
00:24:43,982 --> 00:24:46,618
About poetry.

437
00:24:46,618 --> 00:24:48,920
I think I personally like

438
00:24:50,589 --> 00:24:55,293
music and I think that music is 
basically just poetry with

439
00:24:55,861 --> 00:24:59,264
like a companion, 
like a guitar, some piano

440
00:24:59,264 --> 00:25:01,433
and just a melody 
and everything.

441
00:25:01,433 --> 00:25:05,937
So since I've ever been since, 
I've always been drawn to music.

442
00:25:06,271 --> 00:25:09,140
I have been always drawn 
to poetry as well,

443
00:25:09,140 --> 00:25:12,711
because it's for me 
kind of the same thing.

444
00:25:12,711 --> 00:25:16,548
I am a part of my forensics 
team at my school

445
00:25:16,548 --> 00:25:19,985
and so started being exposed 
to a little bit of poetry

446
00:25:19,985 --> 00:25:22,053
through that 
and just kept wanting

447
00:25:22,053 --> 00:25:25,056
to find out 
more and look into more poems.

448
00:25:25,056 --> 00:25:28,093
I think there's just things

449
00:25:28,093 --> 00:25:31,229
that we can say through poetry 
that we can't say through

450
00:25:31,563 --> 00:25:36,768
other forms of speech 
or other forms of writing.

451
00:25:41,473 --> 00:25:43,008
I do often write poems.

452
00:25:43,008 --> 00:25:46,411
I'm actually the president 
of the poetry club at my school,

453
00:25:46,411 --> 00:25:50,115
my love writing poems 
as a coping mechanism and just

454
00:25:50,549 --> 00:25:52,951
a way to express myself.

455
00:25:54,853 --> 00:25:56,288
When it comes to writing poems.

456
00:25:56,288 --> 00:25:57,956
I have written a few poems.

457
00:25:57,956 --> 00:26:00,125
I have written a few songs.

458
00:26:00,125 --> 00:26:03,728
Because songs are basically poem 
but with music, like I said,

459
00:26:03,728 --> 00:26:04,529
it's been good.

460
00:26:04,529 --> 00:26:07,065
I've really enjoyed doing that.

461
00:26:07,065 --> 00:26:10,201
I haven't tried to write 
much of my own poetry

462
00:26:10,201 --> 00:26:14,105
outside of maybe the required 
English class poem.

463
00:26:14,573 --> 00:26:15,774
At least for right now.

464
00:26:15,774 --> 00:26:19,911
I enjoy a lot more 
the reading and sort of literary

465
00:26:19,911 --> 00:26:24,616
analysis of poetry.

466
00:26:29,654 --> 00:26:32,757
Of course, poetry is just

467
00:26:32,757 --> 00:26:36,595
it's a way 
to express who you are

468
00:26:36,595 --> 00:26:40,131
and have your voice heard.

469
00:26:40,131 --> 00:26:40,699
Absolutely.

470
00:26:41,466 --> 00:26:43,902
I would encourage that because 
I think there is a lot of

471
00:26:44,903 --> 00:26:47,005
lot of smartness in poems

472
00:26:47,005 --> 00:26:49,174
and a lot of them 
have a good point.

473
00:26:51,009 --> 00:26:53,011
I definitely would.

474
00:26:53,011 --> 00:26:55,513
There is maybe a little bit 
of stigma around poetry,

475
00:26:56,147 --> 00:26:59,818
especially for teenagers 
and high schoolers.

476
00:26:59,818 --> 00:27:02,821
There's so much more out there 
than the few nature poems

477
00:27:02,821 --> 00:27:06,558
that we're exposed 
to in English class or a haiku.

478
00:27:06,558 --> 00:27:07,392
Right.

479
00:27:07,392 --> 00:27:09,260
And so I think

480
00:27:09,260 --> 00:27:11,730
there's something for everyone 
when it comes to poetry,

481
00:27:11,730 --> 00:27:15,033
and I would definitely encourage 
people to just discover

482
00:27:15,533 --> 00:27:18,203
more of it.

483
00:27:25,910 --> 00:27:29,114
We will now begin 
the recitations for round two.

484
00:27:30,081 --> 00:27:31,816
Please help me. 
Welcome to the stage.

485
00:27:31,816 --> 00:27:33,351
Allie Cloyd

486
00:27:33,885 --> 00:27:36,321
Meeting at an airport

487
00:27:36,321 --> 00:27:42,827
by Taha Muhammad Ali.

488
00:27:42,827 --> 00:27:46,264
You asked me once on our way 
back from the midmorning

489
00:27:46,264 --> 00:27:51,336
trip to the spring, what do 
you hate and who do you love?

490
00:27:52,837 --> 00:27:54,572
And I answered from behind

491
00:27:54,572 --> 00:27:58,610
the eyelashes of my surprise, 
but rushing in me

492
00:27:58,910 --> 00:28:01,980
like the shadow cast 
by cloud of starlings.

493
00:28:03,682 --> 00:28:05,850
I hate departure,

494
00:28:05,850 --> 00:28:09,354
I love the spring 
and the path to the spring.

495
00:28:10,055 --> 00:28:12,524
And I worship 
the middle hours of morning.

496
00:28:13,625 --> 00:28:17,195
And you laughed 
and the almond tree blossomed

497
00:28:17,195 --> 00:28:19,864
and the thicket grew loud 
with nightingales

498
00:28:22,300 --> 00:28:26,404
a question now four decades old.

499
00:28:27,839 --> 00:28:30,775
I salute that question's answer 
and an answer

500
00:28:30,775 --> 00:28:33,278
as old as your departure.

501
00:28:34,746 --> 00:28:37,182
I salute that answers question.

502
00:28:37,182 --> 00:28:40,585
And today it's preposterous.

503
00:28:40,585 --> 00:28:43,154
Here we are 
at a friendly airport

504
00:28:43,154 --> 00:28:45,056
by the slimmest of chances.

505
00:28:45,056 --> 00:28:48,560
And we meet ah, Lord.

506
00:28:49,060 --> 00:28:50,729
We meet.

507
00:28:50,729 --> 00:28:53,231
And here you are asking again.

508
00:28:53,698 --> 00:28:55,600
It's absolutely preposterous.

509
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,836
I recognized you, but

510
00:28:58,803 --> 00:29:01,106
you didn't recognize me.

511
00:29:02,073 --> 00:29:03,374
Is it you?

512
00:29:03,374 --> 00:29:05,310
But you wouldn't believe it.

513
00:29:05,310 --> 00:29:09,013
And suddenly you burst out 
and ask if you are really

514
00:29:09,013 --> 00:29:12,150
you, what do you hate and

515
00:29:12,150 --> 00:29:15,453
who do you love?

516
00:29:16,421 --> 00:29:18,590
And I answered

517
00:29:19,457 --> 00:29:22,594
my blood, 
fleeing the whole rushing in me

518
00:29:22,594 --> 00:29:28,366
like the shadow cast 
by a cloud of starlings.

519
00:29:28,366 --> 00:29:32,103
I hate departure

520
00:29:32,103 --> 00:29:34,072
and I love the spring

521
00:29:34,072 --> 00:29:36,541
and the path to the spring.

522
00:29:36,541 --> 00:29:39,277
And I worship 
the middle hours of morning

523
00:29:41,212 --> 00:29:44,282
and you wept

524
00:29:44,282 --> 00:29:45,683
and the flowers bowed

525
00:29:45,683 --> 00:29:49,254
their heads and doves 
in the silk of their sorrow

526
00:29:50,255 --> 00:29:53,291
stumbled.

527
00:29:57,996 --> 00:29:59,964
Please help me. 
Welcome to the Stage.

528
00:29:59,964 --> 00:30:02,333
Petr Sotola

529
00:30:02,333 --> 00:30:04,836
The Tyger by William Blake.

530
00:30:06,271 --> 00:30:09,407
Tyger, tyger burning bright

531
00:30:09,974 --> 00:30:12,277
In The Forest of the Night.

532
00:30:13,077 --> 00:30:18,750
What immortal hand or eye, 
Could frame thy fearful symmetry

533
00:30:19,984 --> 00:30:23,454
in what distance deeps or skies

534
00:30:23,955 --> 00:30:26,858
burn the fire of thine eyes

535
00:30:27,959 --> 00:30:30,461
on what wings dare he aspire

536
00:30:31,196 --> 00:30:34,532
What the hand, dare 
seize the fire?

537
00:30:35,767 --> 00:30:38,770
and what shoulder and what art

538
00:30:39,003 --> 00:30:42,040
Could twist the sinews of 
thy heart?

539
00:30:43,041 --> 00:30:46,010
And when thy heart began to beat

540
00:30:46,010 --> 00:30:50,148
what dread hand 
and what dread feet.

541
00:30:50,982 --> 00:30:53,952
What a hammer, What a chain

542
00:30:54,152 --> 00:30:58,223
In what furnace was thy brain?

543
00:30:58,223 --> 00:31:01,326
What the anvil? what dread grasp

544
00:31:01,993 --> 00:31:05,096
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

545
00:31:06,531 --> 00:31:09,868
When the stars threw down 
their spears

546
00:31:10,435 --> 00:31:13,104
And watered 
heaven with their tears

547
00:31:13,738 --> 00:31:16,507
Did he smile his work to see

548
00:31:17,141 --> 00:31:21,145
Did he who made the Lamb 
make thee?

549
00:31:22,547 --> 00:31:27,952
Tyger, tyger burning bright 
In the forests of the night

550
00:31:27,952 --> 00:31:32,523
What immortal hand or eye,

551
00:31:32,523 --> 00:31:35,560
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

552
00:31:41,833 --> 00:31:45,637
Please help me 
welcome to the stage Jaden Huehl

553
00:31:45,637 --> 00:31:50,708
It is not by Valerie 
Martinez

554
00:31:53,444 --> 00:31:56,714
We have the body of a woman,

555
00:31:56,714 --> 00:31:59,150
an arch over the ground.

556
00:31:59,150 --> 00:32:01,185
But there is no danger.

557
00:32:01,185 --> 00:32:03,955
Her hair falls spine bowed

558
00:32:04,722 --> 00:32:06,858
But no one is with her.

559
00:32:06,858 --> 00:32:07,625
The desert?

560
00:32:07,892 --> 00:32:11,529
Yes, with its cacti 
or sage sidewinders.

561
00:32:12,063 --> 00:32:13,998
She is not in danger.

562
00:32:15,366 --> 00:32:16,467
If we notice

563
00:32:16,734 --> 00:32:19,704
there are tracks of animals 
moving east toward the sunrise

564
00:32:19,938 --> 00:32:20,672
and the light

565
00:32:21,205 --> 00:32:23,675
is about to touch a woman's body 
without possession.

566
00:32:24,409 --> 00:32:28,379
Here there are no girls bones 
in the earth marked with violets

567
00:32:29,013 --> 00:32:36,587
a cholla blooms 
is just two feet away It blooms.

568
00:32:36,587 --> 00:32:38,690
There is a man like her father

569
00:32:39,190 --> 00:32:42,493
who wakes to a note saying, 
I have gone for a day

570
00:32:42,493 --> 00:32:43,761
to the desert.

571
00:32:43,761 --> 00:32:46,230
Now he knows she is in danger.

572
00:32:46,230 --> 00:32:49,067
He will try to anticipate 
what happens to a young woman,

573
00:32:49,067 --> 00:32:53,604
how it will happen, how he will 
deal with the terrible.

574
00:32:53,604 --> 00:32:56,207
In him he feels he knows 
this somehow.

575
00:32:56,207 --> 00:32:59,510
He knows because there are men 
he knows who are capable.

576
00:33:00,178 --> 00:33:03,114
This place 
she has gone to where.

577
00:33:04,015 --> 00:33:06,351
But it doesn't matter.

578
00:33:06,351 --> 00:33:10,121
There is, first of all, the heat 
which scorches

579
00:33:10,555 --> 00:33:13,157
snakes with their coils 
and open mouths.

580
00:33:13,157 --> 00:33:17,962
Men who go there with the very 
thing in mind, the very thing

581
00:33:20,264 --> 00:33:24,602
it is 
the desert on its own, miles

582
00:33:25,003 --> 00:33:27,338
beyond what anyone can see.

583
00:33:27,872 --> 00:33:30,408
Not peaceful nor vengeful.

584
00:33:30,408 --> 00:33:32,410
It does not bow down.

585
00:33:32,410 --> 00:33:34,312
It is not danger.

586
00:33:34,312 --> 00:33:38,483
I cannot speak of it without 
easing or troubling myself.

587
00:33:38,983 --> 00:33:41,753
It is not panorama, nor theater.

588
00:33:42,453 --> 00:33:44,989
I do not know.

589
00:33:44,989 --> 00:33:46,724
It is

590
00:33:47,091 --> 00:33:48,793
conception.

591
00:33:48,793 --> 00:33:51,329
The gifts or burdens I bear,

592
00:33:51,329 --> 00:33:55,433
whether arch a prayer or danger, 
they can happen.

593
00:33:55,666 --> 00:33:59,971
Yes, we conceived them. 
This very woman I know

594
00:33:59,971 --> 00:34:03,441
the man does sit 
tortured.

595
00:34:04,409 --> 00:34:07,712
The desert created 
merely embodies

596
00:34:07,712 --> 00:34:11,549
its place 
and watch us lay our visions.

597
00:34:11,549 --> 00:34:12,784
Oh, God.

598
00:34:12,784 --> 00:34:15,920
Upon it.

599
00:34:21,359 --> 00:34:23,061
Please help me. 
Welcome to the stage.

600
00:34:23,061 --> 00:34:24,962
Juan Garcia.

601
00:34:24,962 --> 00:34:32,136
What Horror to Wake at Night 
by Lorine Niedecker

602
00:34:36,441 --> 00:34:39,444
What horror

603
00:34:40,311 --> 00:34:42,980
to awake at night

604
00:34:44,415 --> 00:34:48,119
and in the dimness see

605
00:34:49,020 --> 00:34:51,022
the light

606
00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:54,192
time is white

607
00:34:55,526 --> 00:34:58,162
mosquitoes bite

608
00:34:59,430 --> 00:35:02,600
I've spent my life

609
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:04,569
on nothing

610
00:35:07,105 --> 00:35:10,041
The thought that

611
00:35:10,041 --> 00:35:12,510
stings

612
00:35:13,478 --> 00:35:15,079
How are you?

613
00:35:15,079 --> 00:35:17,748
Nothing Sitting around

614
00:35:17,748 --> 00:35:20,351
with somethings wife

615
00:35:22,019 --> 00:35:26,491
buzz and burn is all I learned.

616
00:35:28,025 --> 00:35:31,395
I've spent my life

617
00:35:31,395 --> 00:35:33,197
on nothing

618
00:35:34,365 --> 00:35:35,600
I'm pillowed

619
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:40,805
and padded Pale and puffing, 
lifting household

620
00:35:40,805 --> 00:35:44,342
stuffing, carpets, dishes,

621
00:35:44,342 --> 00:35:47,945
benches, fishes

622
00:35:47,945 --> 00:35:50,481
I've spent my life

623
00:35:50,481 --> 00:35:52,483
in nothing.

624
00:35:59,357 --> 00:36:01,893
Please help me 
welcome to the stage.

625
00:36:01,893 --> 00:36:03,995
Victoria Jelks.

626
00:36:03,995 --> 00:36:06,397
Battle-Hymn of the Republic

627
00:36:06,397 --> 00:36:09,433
By Julia Ward Howe

628
00:36:12,236 --> 00:36:15,973
Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory

629
00:36:16,741 --> 00:36:18,910
of the Coming of the Lord.

630
00:36:20,178 --> 00:36:23,681
He is trampling out the vintage 
where the grapes

631
00:36:23,881 --> 00:36:25,483
of wrath are stored.

632
00:36:25,483 --> 00:36:28,386
He has loosed 
the fatal lightning

633
00:36:29,053 --> 00:36:31,389
of his terrible swift sword.

634
00:36:32,924 --> 00:36:37,995
His truth is marching on.

635
00:36:37,995 --> 00:36:41,265
I have seen him 
in the watch fires

636
00:36:41,465 --> 00:36:44,001
of a hundred circling camps.

637
00:36:44,001 --> 00:36:49,307
They have builded him an altar 
in the evening dews and damps

638
00:36:50,708 --> 00:36:53,377
I can 
read his righteous sentence

639
00:36:54,078 --> 00:36:56,781
in the dim and flaring lamps.

640
00:36:56,781 --> 00:36:58,883
His day

641
00:36:59,083 --> 00:37:01,552
is marching on.

642
00:37:01,552 --> 00:37:04,889
I have read a fiery gospel writ

643
00:37:04,889 --> 00:37:09,060
in burnished rows of steel, 
as ye deal

644
00:37:09,794 --> 00:37:18,402
with my contemners, so 
with you my grace shall deal;

645
00:37:18,903 --> 00:37:23,541
Let the hero born of woman crush

646
00:37:23,541 --> 00:37:27,845
the serpent with his heels 
Since God is marching on

647
00:37:28,279 --> 00:37:32,683
He had sounded forth the trumpet 
that shall never call retreat.

648
00:37:32,917 --> 00:37:38,122
He is sifting out the hearts of 
men before, his judgment seat.

649
00:37:38,122 --> 00:37:42,393
Oh, be swift, 
my soul to answer him

650
00:37:43,561 --> 00:37:45,162
be jubilant my feet

651
00:37:45,162 --> 00:37:49,634
Our God is marching on.

652
00:37:52,603 --> 00:37:56,140
In the beauty of 
the lillies

653
00:37:56,140 --> 00:38:03,347
Christ was born across the sea

654
00:38:03,547 --> 00:38:07,318
with a glory in his bosom

655
00:38:07,952 --> 00:38:16,427
that transfigures you and me

656
00:38:17,328 --> 00:38:21,399
as he died

657
00:38:21,399 --> 00:38:29,907
to make men holy, 
let us die, to make men free

658
00:38:31,108 --> 00:38:33,444
While God

659
00:38:34,378 --> 00:38:37,415
is marching on

660
00:38:45,089 --> 00:38:47,658
Please help me Welcome to 
the stage Alissa Berrie.

661
00:38:48,359 --> 00:38:52,096
Truth is, 
I would like to escape myself

662
00:38:52,763 --> 00:38:56,000
By Nour Al Ghraowi

663
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:57,968
Truth is

664
00:38:57,968 --> 00:39:00,471
I would like to escape myself

665
00:39:01,138 --> 00:39:05,509
Detach my body from my skin, 
peel it layer

666
00:39:05,710 --> 00:39:10,614
by layer to uncover 
beneath the surface of petals

667
00:39:11,082 --> 00:39:13,784
and thorns piled up year

668
00:39:14,085 --> 00:39:17,121
after year who I am

669
00:39:17,121 --> 00:39:19,490
and who I want to be.

670
00:39:19,490 --> 00:39:22,393
I want to be the flower 
that grows in the dirt,

671
00:39:22,393 --> 00:39:26,364
the feather that flies free 
between the cracks of fences.

672
00:39:26,964 --> 00:39:31,569
A wise woman once told me, 
Don't worry about you.

673
00:39:32,470 --> 00:39:34,905
Worry about who you could be.

674
00:39:36,173 --> 00:39:38,576
I want to be 
the woman who sits on

675
00:39:38,576 --> 00:39:41,912
a desk and writes 
pieces of oceans.

676
00:39:42,546 --> 00:39:45,883
Rivers on a white space, 
in a place

677
00:39:46,083 --> 00:39:51,756
where imagination has no border.

678
00:39:56,026 --> 00:39:58,329
While the judges compile 
the scores from the first

679
00:39:58,329 --> 00:40:04,769
two rounds, let's meet 
the rest of our contestants.

680
00:40:04,769 --> 00:40:07,872
So my name is Jaden Huehl 
and I go to Tipton,

681
00:40:07,872 --> 00:40:09,173
Catholic High School.

682
00:40:09,173 --> 00:40:12,376
I'm a senior, but I actually 
live in Sylvan Grove, Kansas.

683
00:40:13,744 --> 00:40:15,246
So this is my second year in

684
00:40:15,246 --> 00:40:19,383
poetry out loud, and it's been 
a really interesting experience.

685
00:40:19,383 --> 00:40:21,285
So I do forensics.

686
00:40:21,285 --> 00:40:23,220
As a lot of the people who 
do this event do,

687
00:40:23,220 --> 00:40:26,724
and I never did poetry until 
I started doing poetry out loud.

688
00:40:26,991 --> 00:40:28,526
So it really stretched me on

689
00:40:28,526 --> 00:40:30,227
what I've done 
and what I need to do

690
00:40:30,227 --> 00:40:32,730
with my performance, 
memorization and all of that.

691
00:40:35,332 --> 00:40:37,234
my name is Victoria Jelks

692
00:40:37,234 --> 00:40:39,603
I am from Horton High School.

693
00:40:39,603 --> 00:40:42,440
I'm a freshman 
and I am from Horton, Kansas.

694
00:40:42,973 --> 00:40:46,177
Yes, this is my first time 
competing and it's been really

695
00:40:46,177 --> 00:40:47,912
a positive experience.

696
00:40:47,912 --> 00:40:49,280
It's great to be exposed

697
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,383
by different poets, 
different types of poetry.

698
00:40:52,383 --> 00:40:54,718
So yeah.

699
00:40:54,718 --> 00:40:58,889
Hello, yes, I am Juan Carlos 
Garcia

700
00:40:58,889 --> 00:41:01,592
I go to the Star 
Splitter Academy

701
00:41:01,592 --> 00:41:03,360
and I am a freshman.

702
00:41:03,594 --> 00:41:05,262
For the state competition.

703
00:41:05,262 --> 00:41:08,199
Yes, this is my first time 
doing poetry out loud,

704
00:41:08,632 --> 00:41:11,936
but with previous poetry out 
loud, things that I've done it,

705
00:41:11,936 --> 00:41:15,706
it was an incredible experience 
and I loved doing it.

706
00:41:23,914 --> 00:41:27,551
So my first poem is Free 
Radical by Alison C Rollins.

707
00:41:27,551 --> 00:41:29,753
And this poem really spoke to me 
because it

708
00:41:29,753 --> 00:41:33,491
talks about contemplating life 
and where we're at in it

709
00:41:33,491 --> 00:41:34,892
and kind of that thought

710
00:41:34,892 --> 00:41:36,126
that we all get late at night

711
00:41:36,126 --> 00:41:37,361
and it kind of puts 
that into word

712
00:41:37,361 --> 00:41:38,996
and it makes 
you really think about

713
00:41:38,996 --> 00:41:40,498
Why are we 
here and what are we doing?

714
00:41:41,632 --> 00:41:44,768
My second poem, It 
It Is Not by Valerie Martinez,

715
00:41:44,768 --> 00:41:46,504
and it kind of goes into

716
00:41:46,504 --> 00:41:48,005
how our perception of something

717
00:41:48,005 --> 00:41:50,140
really changes 
who we are within it.

718
00:41:50,140 --> 00:41:51,308
And so I think that's 
just really true

719
00:41:51,308 --> 00:41:53,711
and it's a really good lesson 
to know.

720
00:41:53,711 --> 00:41:57,414
And then my final poem 
is An apology for her poetry

721
00:41:57,414 --> 00:42:00,184
By Duchess of Newcastle 
Margaret Cavendish

722
00:42:00,184 --> 00:42:02,186
its a very long name,

723
00:42:02,186 --> 00:42:04,488
and it's really just about 
looking inward

724
00:42:04,488 --> 00:42:05,356
instead of outward

725
00:42:05,723 --> 00:42:07,691
and really seeing who people are 
for what they are

726
00:42:07,691 --> 00:42:09,627
and analyzing things 
a little bit more

727
00:42:09,627 --> 00:42:12,496
than just our first impressions

728
00:42:13,330 --> 00:42:15,032
I chose to perform.

729
00:42:15,032 --> 00:42:17,668
Frederick Douglass by Robert 
Hayden,

730
00:42:17,668 --> 00:42:21,038
Battle Hymn of the Republic 
by Julia Ward Howe

731
00:42:21,038 --> 00:42:24,575
and songs for the People 
by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

732
00:42:24,575 --> 00:42:26,677
I chose

733
00:42:26,677 --> 00:42:28,445
Frederick Douglass because it

734
00:42:28,445 --> 00:42:32,416
really talks about 
how people years and years ago,

735
00:42:32,416 --> 00:42:36,186
just like me, struggle 
to have freedom and liberty.

736
00:42:36,554 --> 00:42:38,389
And I'm 
now living through the freedom

737
00:42:38,389 --> 00:42:41,225
and liberty 
that they weren't given because.

738
00:42:41,225 --> 00:42:43,627
Frederick Douglass 
gave so much to us.

739
00:42:44,495 --> 00:42:46,964
The next two poems 
were mainly because

740
00:42:47,431 --> 00:42:50,568
of the tie 
between music and poem

741
00:42:51,569 --> 00:42:52,603
poetry.

742
00:42:53,304 --> 00:42:55,673
So I am

743
00:42:55,673 --> 00:42:59,777
I have always grown up 
in music I play piano,

744
00:42:59,777 --> 00:43:03,914
French horn, drums, and I sing 
so and my parents are musicians.

745
00:43:03,914 --> 00:43:06,283
So I've just grown up around 
that environment

746
00:43:06,283 --> 00:43:08,919
and it's really, 
it's really positive.

747
00:43:08,919 --> 00:43:11,255
It's something I couldn't 
shy away from.

748
00:43:12,923 --> 00:43:15,359
The first two poems 
that I chose to do were

749
00:43:16,493 --> 00:43:19,029
And if I did what 
then. by George Gascoigne

750
00:43:19,029 --> 00:43:22,132
and what Horror to Awake at 
Night By Lorine Niedecker

751
00:43:23,434 --> 00:43:25,369
and I chose the first poem

752
00:43:25,369 --> 00:43:30,407
because of the specific wording 
that was chosen in the poem.

753
00:43:30,407 --> 00:43:32,443
It fit 
the categories that were needed

754
00:43:32,443 --> 00:43:35,279
and I just personally felt 
a bit of a connection with it.

755
00:43:36,046 --> 00:43:39,316
Now for the second poem 
that I chose, I had,

756
00:43:39,316 --> 00:43:41,452
I just connected with it 
instantly.

757
00:43:41,452 --> 00:43:42,419
I loved it a lot.

758
00:43:42,419 --> 00:43:43,854
I think 
it's one of my favorite poems

759
00:43:43,854 --> 00:43:45,923
that I've ever read 
because of its depth

760
00:43:46,523 --> 00:43:49,026
and because of the 
meaning of the poem, what

761
00:43:49,026 --> 00:43:51,895
the speaker 
is experiencing in the poem

762
00:43:52,596 --> 00:43:56,200
and everything about it 
pretty much.

763
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:04,908
Poetry is really special

764
00:44:04,908 --> 00:44:06,176
because it has a lot of

765
00:44:06,176 --> 00:44:07,044
emotion to it,

766
00:44:07,277 --> 00:44:08,379
and I think that's kind 
of the difference

767
00:44:08,646 --> 00:44:11,281
between a lot of different 
things and it's a lot of layers.

768
00:44:11,281 --> 00:44:12,683
So I think good poetry

769
00:44:12,683 --> 00:44:14,485
is something 
that you can read four times

770
00:44:14,485 --> 00:44:16,887
and get something out of it 
four different times.

771
00:44:16,887 --> 00:44:18,989
And so a lot of the really good 
poetry,

772
00:44:18,989 --> 00:44:20,357
the poetry pieces 
that we're performing

773
00:44:20,357 --> 00:44:22,192
today 
have a lot of those layers and

774
00:44:22,192 --> 00:44:23,794
It's something 
that we feel inside

775
00:44:23,794 --> 00:44:25,963
and I will 
I really connect to these poems.

776
00:44:25,963 --> 00:44:28,832
And so poetry just kind of 
is a way for me to express

777
00:44:28,832 --> 00:44:31,535
how I feel 
and the things I think about.

778
00:44:32,770 --> 00:44:38,542
Poetry is very appealing because 
its a form of art that many can

779
00:44:38,542 --> 00:44:42,312
describe themselves through, 
can show their emotions through.

780
00:44:42,312 --> 00:44:44,448
And each time you read

781
00:44:45,749 --> 00:44:50,821
a poem, it can show different 
values, different perspectives.

782
00:44:50,821 --> 00:44:53,757
As you read. It doesn't get old.

783
00:44:53,757 --> 00:44:57,227
Poetry just seems to me 
like a way for

784
00:44:58,529 --> 00:45:02,099
a writer to deeply express the 
inner reaches of their heart.

785
00:45:02,900 --> 00:45:05,936
It makes it so that they can say 
whatever feelings

786
00:45:05,936 --> 00:45:08,872
they want to get out, whether 
metaphorically or literally.

787
00:45:09,707 --> 00:45:14,578
And it makes it so that they can 
write whatever they want to.

788
00:45:14,578 --> 00:45:18,649
And as a reader of poetry, 
I feel like it's it's a very

789
00:45:19,717 --> 00:45:23,821
connective experience 
to read poetry and understand

790
00:45:24,021 --> 00:45:28,358
what the speaker was intending 
and what they wanted to express

791
00:45:28,726 --> 00:45:32,529
and connect 
with it on an emotional level.

792
00:45:38,135 --> 00:45:40,838
I think poetry 
is very challenging

793
00:45:40,838 --> 00:45:42,106
because I'm somebody who I like

794
00:45:42,106 --> 00:45:44,141
to have a set rule 
for what I need to do.

795
00:45:44,141 --> 00:45:45,409
And that is something 
about poetry

796
00:45:45,409 --> 00:45:47,811
that's a lot different, 
is there's no set standards

797
00:45:47,811 --> 00:45:49,480
and you can kind of 
do whatever with it.

798
00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:52,182
And I think that's one thing 
I kind of struggled with,

799
00:45:52,983 --> 00:45:53,984
but I think it's really got me

800
00:45:53,984 --> 00:45:55,285
out of my comfort zone 
and that's

801
00:45:55,285 --> 00:45:56,787
really been a big step for me.

802
00:45:56,787 --> 00:45:58,388
I'm learning 
how to express my emotions

803
00:45:58,388 --> 00:46:00,257
and what my emotions 
really look like,

804
00:46:00,257 --> 00:46:02,993
what they mean to me, 
and just analyzing that.

805
00:46:04,294 --> 00:46:06,697
Yes, I have written a couple 
of poems,

806
00:46:06,930 --> 00:46:09,166
mainly when my emotions 
are the highest,

807
00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:12,703
if I've experienced 
a really high or low time.

808
00:46:13,203 --> 00:46:16,273
So but it really helps me 
to get my thoughts through

809
00:46:16,273 --> 00:46:21,078
and helps 
me to retrieve my calmness.

810
00:46:21,078 --> 00:46:21,879
I guess

811
00:46:23,781 --> 00:46:25,215
I have written many poems.

812
00:46:25,215 --> 00:46:26,550
I have a poetry notebook

813
00:46:26,550 --> 00:46:28,919
that I keep by my bedside 
in case I want to write

814
00:46:28,919 --> 00:46:30,587
anything about a dream 
that I had,

815
00:46:30,587 --> 00:46:32,923
or just write 
about the experience of the day

816
00:46:34,525 --> 00:46:37,694
Writing 
poetry is just an amazing

817
00:46:37,694 --> 00:46:39,196
therapeutic experience for me.

818
00:46:39,196 --> 00:46:42,166
Specifically, I know it's 
not for everyone, but for me

819
00:46:42,733 --> 00:46:45,269
I love it 
and it just makes me feel,

820
00:46:45,269 --> 00:46:49,206
you know, very emotional 
and it lets me get that out.

821
00:46:56,780 --> 00:46:57,915
Oh, yeah, absolutely.

822
00:46:57,915 --> 00:46:58,982
I mean, I think you have to

823
00:46:58,982 --> 00:47:00,918
give everything 
at least a chance once.

824
00:47:00,918 --> 00:47:03,453
And I think poetry 
is kind of like reading books.

825
00:47:03,453 --> 00:47:05,255
So a lot of people think 
they don't like to read.

826
00:47:05,255 --> 00:47:07,124
But I argue it's they 
they just haven't found

827
00:47:07,124 --> 00:47:08,792
what they want to read yet.

828
00:47:08,792 --> 00:47:11,061
And so with poetry, 
maybe the first poet that you

829
00:47:11,061 --> 00:47:13,096
read, you're not going to like, 
but different poets

830
00:47:13,096 --> 00:47:16,800
and different ways of poetry 
and just really getting into it,

831
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:18,602
you can find something 
that really relates to you

832
00:47:18,602 --> 00:47:20,470
and I think that's 
what poetry is all about,

833
00:47:20,470 --> 00:47:22,606
is finding that thing 
that makes you feel seen

834
00:47:22,606 --> 00:47:25,776
and makes you kind of analyze 
yourself, the world around you,

835
00:47:25,776 --> 00:47:28,011
and there's poets 
out there for everybody.

836
00:47:29,479 --> 00:47:31,014
I would definitely encourage

837
00:47:31,014 --> 00:47:35,052
poetry on people my age, people 
younger people older.

838
00:47:35,052 --> 00:47:37,454
It's really a way 
to express yourself in

839
00:47:39,022 --> 00:47:42,426
that no other way can really.

840
00:47:42,426 --> 00:47:45,729
I believe I would like I said, 
I don't think it's for everyone,

841
00:47:45,729 --> 00:47:48,799
but it definitely connected 
to me on an emotional level

842
00:47:48,799 --> 00:47:53,470
and I believe that others should 
definitely give it a chance.

843
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:06,350
Based on the scores from rounds 
one and two,

844
00:48:06,583 --> 00:48:09,386
the top three contestants 
advance around three.

845
00:48:10,187 --> 00:48:13,190
Will the following students 
please join me on stage?

846
00:48:14,324 --> 00:48:16,793
The students 
moving on to compete in round

847
00:48:16,793 --> 00:48:20,898
three are Allie Cloyd, Juan 
Garcia

848
00:48:21,331 --> 00:48:25,836
and Victoria Jelks.

849
00:48:29,940 --> 00:48:32,342
We will now begin 
our final round.

850
00:48:32,943 --> 00:48:34,945
Please help me 
welcome to the stage.

851
00:48:34,945 --> 00:48:36,480
Allie Cloyd.

852
00:48:37,881 --> 00:48:39,683
The Paradox

853
00:48:39,683 --> 00:48:45,889
by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

854
00:48:45,889 --> 00:48:49,059
I am the mother of sorrows.

855
00:48:49,459 --> 00:48:51,828
I am the ender of grief.

856
00:48:53,030 --> 00:48:55,599
I am the bud and the blossom.

857
00:48:56,466 --> 00:48:59,636
I am the late falling leaf.

858
00:49:00,804 --> 00:49:03,807
I am thy priest and thy poet

859
00:49:04,308 --> 00:49:07,644
I am thy surf and thy king

860
00:49:09,079 --> 00:49:11,615
I cure the tears 
of the heartsick

861
00:49:12,449 --> 00:49:15,118
when I come near they shall sing

862
00:49:16,653 --> 00:49:20,157
white are my hands as a 
snow drop

863
00:49:20,157 --> 00:49:22,893
Swart 
are my fingers as clay

864
00:49:23,193 --> 00:49:26,229
dark is my frown as the midnight

865
00:49:26,763 --> 00:49:29,599
fair is my brow as the day

866
00:49:30,867 --> 00:49:33,637
battle and war are my minions

867
00:49:34,071 --> 00:49:36,406
doing my will as divine

868
00:49:37,474 --> 00:49:40,277
I am the calmer of passions

869
00:49:41,111 --> 00:49:43,547
Peace is a nursling of mine

870
00:49:44,915 --> 00:49:47,150
Speak to me gently or curse me

871
00:49:47,584 --> 00:49:50,187
Seek me or fly from my sight

872
00:49:51,455 --> 00:49:53,924
I am thy soul in the morning

873
00:49:54,891 --> 00:49:58,061
Thou art my slave in the night

874
00:49:59,296 --> 00:50:03,467
down to the grave 
Will I take the out

875
00:50:03,467 --> 00:50:05,702
from the noise of the strife

876
00:50:06,970 --> 00:50:09,806
Then shalt 
thou see me and know me

877
00:50:10,841 --> 00:50:15,078
death then no longer but life

878
00:50:16,546 --> 00:50:19,216
then shalt thou sing 
at my coming

879
00:50:19,850 --> 00:50:24,688
Kiss me with passionate breaths 
Clasp me and smile to have

880
00:50:24,688 --> 00:50:28,925
thought me aught 
save the foemen of death

881
00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:33,730
come to me, brother 
when weary come

882
00:50:33,730 --> 00:50:36,400
when thy lonely heart swells

883
00:50:37,567 --> 00:50:41,972
I'll guide thy footsteps 
and lead thee

884
00:50:41,972 --> 00:50:46,143
down where the dream 
woman dwells.

885
00:50:50,714 --> 00:50:51,314
Please help me.

886
00:50:51,314 --> 00:50:52,449
Welcome to the stage.

887
00:50:52,449 --> 00:50:54,718
Victoria Jelks.

888
00:50:54,718 --> 00:51:00,190
Songs for the People by 
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

889
00:51:03,326 --> 00:51:07,431
Let Me Make the Songs 
for the People, songs

890
00:51:07,764 --> 00:51:12,069
for the old and young, songs 
that stir

891
00:51:12,736 --> 00:51:15,972
like a battle cry 
wherever they are, sung

892
00:51:16,706 --> 00:51:19,876
not for the clashing of sabers, 
for carnage,

893
00:51:20,110 --> 00:51:23,980
nor for strife, 
but songs to thrill

894
00:51:24,181 --> 00:51:30,687
the hearts of men 
with more abundant life.

895
00:51:30,687 --> 00:51:34,825
Let me make the songs 
for the weary amid life's fever

896
00:51:34,825 --> 00:51:39,830
and fret till hearts 
shall relax their tension

897
00:51:40,597 --> 00:51:43,467
and careworn brows forget

898
00:51:45,569 --> 00:51:47,404
Let me sing

899
00:51:47,404 --> 00:51:50,640
for little children 
before their footsteps Stray

900
00:51:51,975 --> 00:51:54,344
sweet anthems of love

901
00:51:54,644 --> 00:51:58,281
and, duty to float 
oer lifes highway.

902
00:52:00,550 --> 00:52:05,856
I would sing for the poor 
and aged when shadows

903
00:52:05,856 --> 00:52:08,658
dimmed their sight of the bright

904
00:52:09,259 --> 00:52:11,962
and restful mansions

905
00:52:11,962 --> 00:52:15,499
where they shall be no night

906
00:52:17,367 --> 00:52:18,869
our world

907
00:52:19,703 --> 00:52:22,339
so worn

908
00:52:23,206 --> 00:52:26,910
and weary, needs music

909
00:52:27,844 --> 00:52:30,046
pure and strong

910
00:52:31,081 --> 00:52:33,917
to hush the jangle and discords

911
00:52:34,818 --> 00:52:37,487
of sorrow, pain

912
00:52:38,788 --> 00:52:40,223
and wrong

913
00:52:41,625 --> 00:52:43,393
music to soothe

914
00:52:43,393 --> 00:52:46,796
all its sorrow 
Till war and crime

915
00:52:47,097 --> 00:52:49,399
shall cease

916
00:52:50,267 --> 00:52:53,403
And the hearts of men 
grown tender

917
00:52:55,405 --> 00:52:57,541
girdle the world

918
00:52:59,176 --> 00:53:04,281
with peace.

919
00:53:09,319 --> 00:53:10,887
Please help me. 
Welcome to the stage.

920
00:53:10,887 --> 00:53:12,656
Juan Garcia

921
00:53:13,089 --> 00:53:18,361
Threshold by Maggie Smith.

922
00:53:18,361 --> 00:53:21,431
He wants a door you can be

923
00:53:22,766 --> 00:53:27,938
on both sides of at once.

924
00:53:27,938 --> 00:53:35,545
You want to be on 
both sides of here and there.

925
00:53:35,912 --> 00:53:40,584
Now and then together and

926
00:53:42,953 --> 00:53:44,321
what did we call

927
00:53:44,321 --> 00:53:46,756
the life we would wish back?

928
00:53:47,924 --> 00:53:49,960
The old life

929
00:53:50,193 --> 00:53:51,928
the before

930
00:53:54,664 --> 00:53:57,434
alone.

931
00:53:57,434 --> 00:54:02,672
But any open space 
may be a threshold

932
00:54:03,607 --> 00:54:07,110
an arch of entering and leaving

933
00:54:07,110 --> 00:54:11,781
and crossing a field, 
wading through nothing but

934
00:54:12,849 --> 00:54:18,421
Timothy Grass.

935
00:54:18,421 --> 00:54:23,159
Imagine yourself passing from 
and into

936
00:54:24,160 --> 00:54:28,665
passing through doorway 
after doorway

937
00:54:29,666 --> 00:54:33,536
after doorway.

938
00:54:45,048 --> 00:54:48,485
As the 2023 Kansas Poetry Out 
Loud Champion, the state

939
00:54:48,485 --> 00:54:51,621
champion will receive $200 
and the opportunity

940
00:54:51,621 --> 00:54:54,824
to compete in the National 
Poetry out loud contest.

941
00:54:55,225 --> 00:54:57,994
This student's school 
also receives $500

942
00:54:57,994 --> 00:55:00,630
to purchase poetry resources 
for their school library.

943
00:55:01,331 --> 00:55:04,267
Should the Kansas State winner 
be unable to participate

944
00:55:04,267 --> 00:55:06,303
in the National Poetry Out Loud 
finals,

945
00:55:06,603 --> 00:55:07,470
the runner up

946
00:55:07,771 --> 00:55:09,939
will represent Kansas 
at the National Competition.

947
00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:14,377
The runner up will also receive 
$100 and their school

948
00:55:14,377 --> 00:55:17,547
will also receive 
$200 for poetry materials.

949
00:55:18,548 --> 00:55:22,018
The person receiving 
third place in the 2023

950
00:55:22,018 --> 00:55:24,587
Kansas Poetry Out 
Loud competition is

951
00:55:27,123 --> 00:55:29,592
Allie Cloyd.

952
00:55:37,500 --> 00:55:45,008
The second place runner up for 
2023 Kansas Poetry Out Loud is

953
00:55:45,008 --> 00:55:48,411
Juan Garcia.

954
00:55:55,685 --> 00:56:00,357
The 2023 Kansas Poetry Out 
Loud champion is

955
00:56:00,990 --> 00:56:04,527
Victoria Jelks.

956
00:56:13,336 --> 00:56:16,806
Congratulations 
and thanks to all the students,

957
00:56:17,006 --> 00:56:21,077
judges, regional coordinators, 
parents, teachers

958
00:56:21,311 --> 00:56:22,579
and our special guests

959
00:56:22,579 --> 00:56:26,583
for attending the Kansas 
Poetry Out Loud State Finals.

960
00:56:27,016 --> 00:56:27,984
Remember that

961
00:56:28,218 --> 00:56:30,854
you can watch our state champion 
represent Kansas

962
00:56:31,121 --> 00:56:36,259
at the National Semifinals 
at arts.gov on May 9th