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POETRY OUT LOUD

Messalonskee's Emma Bailey finishes second

Senior receives cash price, wins poetry books for her school

By Matt DiFilippo mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- Emma Bailey wasn't even expecting to be one of the ten finalists at the Poetry Out Loud state finals, held Friday evening at the Waterville Opera House. But she was there, and so were her fans -- adorned in special T-shirts and wildly cheering her efforts.

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Emma Bailey, a senior at Messalonskee High School, performs the poem "The Maldive Shark" by Herman Melville during the first of three rounds at the Poetry Out Loud state finals at the Waterville Opera House Friday evening. Ten Maine high school students competed in the finals. The champion will go to Washington, D.C., for the national finals in April.

Photo by Jason McKibben

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Bailey and nine other students each recited three poems from memory during the 2 1/2 hour competition. Bailey, a senior at Messalonskee High School, finished second to defending champion Will Whitham, a senior at Bangor High.

"I was surprised that I made it to state, and I'm really surprised that I'm runner-up," Bailey said.

Whitham receives $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to represent Maine at the national finals in April. Bangor High will also receive $500 to purchase poetry books for the school library. Bailey receives $100 and Messalonskee will get $200 for poetry books.

Whitham, who is undecided on college but is looking at some Ivy League schools, said last year's competition helped him better understand the judging, but other factors made this year tougher.

"This year, there was so much more pressure," he said. "Last year, I didn't even know I was able to do this. This year, the entire time, I was like, 'I have to defend my title' or whatnot. So it was really much more stressful."

The students selected their poems from a list, and by chance, two of the poems Whitham recited were performed minutes earlier by another student. One of those was "Alabanza, In Praise of Local 100," by Martin Espada, which was recited by Maine Central Institute junior Jorgi Young.

"I liked seeing it done a different way," Young said. "I saw (Whitham) at regionals, and it kind of gave me another idea about how it could be done."

Young also recited "Ancestor" by Jimmy Santiago Baca, and "The Glove and the Lions" by Leigh Hunt.

"The first one I did, 'Alabanza, in Praise of local 100,' I felt like it was really powerful," Young said. "The second one, 'Ancestor,' was about a guy's father who wasn't around. I personally had that experience, and it kind of struck me when I read it. The third one was actually a last-minute choice. When I won the school competition, I only had a week to prepare one for the regionals."

Bailey's three poems were Herman Melville's "The Maldive Shark," Isaac Rosenberg's "Break of Day in the Trenches," and Walter de la Mare's "The Listeners." The softspoken Bailey kept her movement to a minimum during her performances and said she chose "The Maldive Shark" because Melville is currently her favorite author.

"I read 'Moby Dick' for my AP Literature class in junior year and I absolutely loved the book," said Bailey, who plans to attend Colby College and major in classics.

Like Bailey, Gardiner freshman John Booth commanded the stage with a quiet, understated confidence. Booth recited Toi Derricotte's "Black Boys Play the Classics," Carl Sandburg's "Chicago" and Rudyard Kipling's "If."

"I really haven't been up on stage much," Booth said. "I was just told that I'm very good at it, so I pretty much did the same thing from school level to this level -- kept looking out at the audience, trying to make the best eye contact I can, even with the lights being low."

Thornton Academy's Paige Meserve went last in each of the three rounds, and recited "Planetarium" by Adrienne Rich, "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus and "Monet Refuses the Operation" by Lisel Mueller.

"I was trying to find poetry that I could connect with on an internal level, and really be able to convey, maybe even as part of me," Meserve said. "The poems I chose, I felt really resonated with me. I internalize these poems on a really intimate, personal level, and I'm able to feel almost as if they're coming from me."

At the end of the evening, the 10 students were given a standing ovation by the crowd of about 150 people. Whitham said that kind of response was not unique to Friday's competition.

"You end up building up a pretty incredible fan base," Whitham said. "Hard to believe, I know. But we have our school competition, and we have like 100 or 200 kids from the high school sitting in a huge auditorium over at Bangor. They'd be cheering and applauding -- they got really into it. It's almost like a sporting event in some ways."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com