The POL Regional Finals

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As Emma recited “Broken Promises” by David Kirby her expressions and tone absorbed my attention. Every word was emphasized, which allowed me and the audience to pay attention to every word. Each word had its own tone and sound. Chills came to me, just listening. The very end of the poem, “‘you bastards,’ I scream,/ ‘you have to love me–I gave you life!’” was said like she was actually experiencing it and feeling it (23-24). The way Emma chose to recite the poem helped the meaning of the poem. I felt Emma’s confidence made me feel more confident with the meaning of the poem. She owned the poem. “I have seen them playing cards under a single light blub/ and tried to join in, but they refused me rudely”, Emma said these lines with not just her voice, but her eyes and eyebrows in anger (2-3). The expressions and tone absorbed me, making my own emotions part of the poem and wanting to know what was next to happen. Other performers, the nervousness took away from what the individual was saying, and made me feel disconnected with the whole recitation; also, many others were doing too much and acting it out, which takes away from the poem and it’s power. The small hand gestures and expressions that Emma did, didn’t take away from the poem, but went perfectly along with it, and didn’t distract me from Kirby’s words.

Overall, the experience made me enjoy poetry a little bit more. It made me wish I would have taken it more seriously to have an opportunity. What I would do differently if I ever did it was pick poems with different tones. Round 1 was the most interesting because it was new and you didn’t know what to expect, but as the other 2 rounds came along, it got boring and repetitive because people’s chosen poems that have similar tones and expressions. Round 1 was the most interesting because it was new to you, but as the other 2 rounds came along, it got boring and repetitive because people’s chosen poems were similiar leading to similiar tones and expressions. I feel that choosing different tones would show the judges others things one is capable of, and would make the individual stand out. Even though I am really not a poetry fan at all, it was an enjoyable, learning experience. If I had another chance to go, I would go again.

MM

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Memorizing words is not always the easiest thing to do. One has to know the order of the words, when to emphasize and when to calm it down. It takes dedication, emotion and the want to strive to compete in such a competition. The average person honestly cannot do so. Reciting a poem in front of thousands of people is nerve racking on it’s own. Now add other people who could be and probably are reading the same poem(s) as you are. It’s unbelievably stressful– memorizing words, figuring out the meaning and praying you don’t choke up in the middle.

As Emma got on stage, the audience could see the confidence upon her face. She knew that other people would be reading the same poems, and she did not seem to care one bit. Why? Probably because she knew she’d knock all those other competitors off the stage. Which she did. Her emotion was always showing; by facial expressions and the tone in her voice. There was not a moment as she recited her poems, that I was not smiling. I know I could never gain enough courage to get up on stage in front of people, let alone recite poem after poem. Emma had the patience to read, read and re-read again for days at a time to understand her poem. While other teenagers were goofing around, she was studying the words among the page. And in the end, she did an amazing job that really brought a new understanding to myself. The way she presented each poem gave it a new meaning, it opened my eyes to the hidden meanings behind each word in every poem.

It wasn’t just Emma though. Every single competitor helped open my eyes to a new world of poetry. I never fully knew how many times one poem could mean so many different things or be said in so many different ways. One poem was presented by one person with a soft, sad tone, while another person chose to raise their voice giving it more of a happy tone. I’m glad I got the chance to go because I’m a great lover of poetry, by going on that trip I fell even more in love with poetry.  If I could do it  all over again, I would in a heart beat. It was simply incredible.

LV

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