Poetry Friday Out Loud

Thank you, Governor Martin O'Malley!

Got word this week...the Maryland State Arts Council received full funding. Seems ages since I went with a delegation of local artists to the State House in Annapolis. You can read about my day as a lobbyist here.

Hopefully, this means all my poetry residency grants will be approved and my students will soon be writing up a juicy batch of poems.

One of the programs MSAC funds is our statewide Poetry Out Loud competition. Never heard of it? Poetry Out Loud is a national recitation contest. High schoolers are not writing and reading their own poems. They choose from a "book" and perform one poem for each round of oral competition. It's a mix of poetry slam, literary interpretation, and acting monologue.

MSAC sends poet-in-the-schools MiMi Zannino to train kids at their schools. The result?

Fab-u-lous! Took my 9 y.o. to the Maryland finals last spring. Her attention was glued to the high schoolers on stage. ("Do you think someone will do Edgar Allan Poe?" Yes -- we heard a few Annabel Lees. "I bet someone picked Shakespeare." Bingo.)

Teachers -- visit national Poetry Out Loud http://www.poetryoutloud.org/ for some great poetry to share in the classroom. Video clips of kids their age competing will inspire your students!

One poem on the list is Gertrude Stein's "Susie Asado." If you've never heard this one out loud, get someone to read it to you today. It will light your toes on fire.

Susie Asado

By Gertrude Stein

Sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet tea. Susie Asado. Sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet tea. Susie Asado. Susie Asado which is a told tray sure. A lean on the shoe this means slips slips hers. When the ancient light grey is clean it is yellow, it is a silver seller. This is a please this is a please there are the saids to jelly. These

are the wets these say the sets to leave a crown to Incy. Incy is short for incubus. A pot. A pot is a beginning of a rare bit of trees. Trees tremble,

the old vats are in bobbles, bobbles which shade and shove

and render clean, render clean must. Drink pups. Drink pups drink pups lease a sash hold, see it shine and a bobolink

has pins. It shows a nail. What is a nail. A nail is unison. Sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet tea.

Poetry Friday Bonus! Have you seen Jonah Winter and Calef Brown's Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude? It's a sweet picture book bio that captures Stein's wordplay. I can't wait to use it in the classroom.

So, thanks Guv. Thanks Gertrude. There's more poetry to light up your toes at Wild Rose Reader. Enjoy!