Narrator: Do you like poetry? Do you like to perform?

Narrator: The Poetry Out Loud program encourages you to realize poetry's power as a vehicle of self-expression. This annual competition of poetry performances brings together high school students and poetry chosen from our rich and diverse literary heritage.

Male Student: "Good-morning,"
(Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson)

Female Student: Shall I tell you the secret?
(Siren Song by Margaret Atwood)

Female Student: You may shoot me with your words,
(Still I Rise by Maya Angelou)

Female Student: just gotta say something...
(Beautiful Black Men by Nikki Giovanni)

Narrator: The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with the state arts agencies in every state and the District of Columbia to support the Poetry Out Loud program.

Female Student: Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
(Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

2007 Winner: laughing with white teeth,
(Chicago by Carl Sandburg)

Male Student: With torn and bleeding hearts...
(We Wear the Mask By Paul Laurence Dunbar)

Narrator: Competition begins at your classroom level. School-wide winners will come to Tallahassee for the State Finals in March 2008. The judges will evaluate your presentations by reviewing Posture, Voice Projection and Articulation, Evidence of Understanding, and Overall Performance.

Female Student: She smiled harder and harder...
(How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson)

Female Student: I think of a friend's voice...
(Scary Movies by Kim Addonizio)

Female Student: He couldn't spare a word for me,
(At the Vietnam Memorial by George Bilgere)

Male Student: In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
(Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen)

Narrator: Florida's state winner will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C., for the National Poetry Out Loud Final competition in May 2008. A total of $50,000 in awards will be given to the winners at the National Finals, including a check for $20,000 to the National Champion!

Male Student: We wear the mask that grins...
(We Wear the Mask By Paul Laurence Dunbar)

Female Student: Whose eyes show the road to stars,
(The Poet by Yone Noguchi)

Female Student: And I ask myself:...
(My Grandmother's Love Letters by Hart Crane)

Female Student: What cat's averse to fish?
(Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes by Thomas Gray)

Female Student: It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge, (Litany by Billy Collins)

Narrator: Every student at the state finals receives an award. In addition, the winner's school will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books. The Second Place winner receives a check for $100 with an additional $200 for their school; other winners receive special recognition.

Female Student: Give all you have...
(Barter by Sara Teasdale)

Male Student: thwack!
(Analysis of Baseball by May Swenson)

Female Student: And back to you again...
(My Grandmother's Love Letters by Hart Crane)

Male Student: pow!
(Analysis of Baseball by May Swenson)

Female Student: and i scream and stamp and shout...
(Beautiful Black Men by Nikki Giovanni)

Female Student: a devil language falls...
(A Song for Soweto By June Jordan)

2007 Winner: Amazing! I did not think that they could speak this tongue.
(Black Boys Play the Classics by Toi Derricotte)

Narrator: The State Finals is sponsored by the Division of Cultural Affairs, the State Arts Agency. To Find out how to get involved in the 2008 Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest, ask your teacher and visit the Florida Poetry Out Loud website.