She said to her main name,
Mom, Mom, and Pop needed to die out of shame
when Sadist did her last song.
Her girl struck out from home.
She left his hair to chirp, binded to the comb.
Here is the deepest secret nobody knows.
Here is the root of the room, and the bud of the bud,
and the sky of the sky of a dream all night.
By fantasies that are curled around these images and cling,
the notion of some infinitely gentle,
infinitely suffering thing.
Shake your head and say that you have heard it said,
who stays to covet, never catch, an opportunity to snatch.
Thank you.
Poetry Out Loud began in 2005 by a joint endeavor
between the National Endowment for the Arts
and the Poetry Foundation.
And it's basically revolutionized the role of poetry in high schools.
It challenges high school students to memorize and recite poetry
in a competitive setting on stage among their peers.
They choose poems from across the centuries of oral literature,
and it really emphasizes the actual element.
It builds public speaking skills,
and it really engages them in the poetry experience.
For a few years now, the Arts Council has been organizing poetry
out loud in the Southwest region for the Division of the Arts in Baton Rouge.
And tonight, we have ten students from across South Ossouziana,
five parishes competing for the top three honors.
And the top three students are going to go to the State Competition in Baton Rouge,
where the Louisiana State Champion is going to go to Washington, D.C.
to compete against all the other states for the National Championship.
And at Nationals, they're awarding over $50,000 in stipends
towards poetry books and awards and honors,
including a $20,000 cash prize for the champion.
Last year, David Douglas, who came from Washington Marine High School
at Charles, he became our Louisiana State Champion
and represented Lake Charles at Nationals.
Started, I saw the poster.
I went and approached the sponsor at my school about it.
She told me the information.
I got my three poems, memorized it.
I really didn't have a former coach.
My mom was really the coach, and she just said,
do it over, do it over, do it over.
I came here in the same building I won.
I was very, very surprised because a lot of my competitors,
it wasn't their first time doing the competition.
So for me to come, my first time a senior in high school,
win the district, win state, and then go to Nationals
in place top eight in my region was very, very surprising.
And what was the experience like in D.C.?
I can say that D.C. is probably my favorite city in the United States.
Well, I haven't been to New York yet,
but so far, D.C., I love D.C.
Just being with 50 other teenagers across the United States
that love poetry and love the art form, it was very uplifting.
And first place winning a 49th part of books nine is Keven J.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, please.
And go for you to come take photos of our winners,
and thank you all again so much for coming out and supporting us then.
