Inspired by the March Madness basketball tournament, Secondary Media Specialist Librarian Annaleigh Herrin created her own version of the tournament but with a twist, it’s all about poetry. The bracket was initially a battle between 16 different pieces of poetry, lasting a total of four rounds/weeks. This is the last week and the last chance to enter your votes on the final two combatants. The last match up is between the poems Aristotle by Billy Collins and Tamara’s Opus by Joshua Bennett. They have proven themselves throughout each round to be the top two most popular out of the competition, and this week we will see which poem will come out of this bracket on top and victorious.
Participants will be entered to win a prize and all staff and students are invited to participate in the competition. In addition, Herrin is currently working on getting an author/poet of one of the poems that were featured to do a visit.
“Thank you to the teachers who are getting their students involved and to the students who are participating,” Herrin said. “I’m excited to see the results. Happy reading/listening!”
Between the two pieces of poetry, one reader, junior Christopher Santiago, is all for team Aristotle. After watching both poems, he came to the idea that the speaker can either make or break a poem, when he watched each speaker’s performance, he found the one that drew him in the most.
“The speaker of a poem definitely plays a big role in these poems, especially in Aristotle,” Santiago said. “I really enjoy the way the poem flows. I can see his passion for the poem and it really brings me in. The way he would say each word really caught my attention. Out of the two poems that are left, I’m hoping Aristotle wins the contest”
Taking on the opposing team, Junior Rodrigo Rodriguez watched and read every poem on the bracket, but non of them were bad to him. Each poem had something good about them in their own ways. However, even before Tamara’s Opus was a competing finalist, he knew the poem would take the winning spot on the bracket.
“The way he changes his tone and the speed of his words, shows just how much emotion that he felt in this poem,” Rodriguez said. “Adding the use of sign language along with it just tied this whole thing together. Not only does the poem paint a picture in your head, and tell a remarkable story to you, but the way it is presented helps take it to a level that the others just aren’t on.”
Cast your vote now or by this Friday, 4/12/2024 before it’s too late time is passing fast so act fast.
