The Merze Tate Explorers were the only nonprofit organizations in Michigan represented in the 2021 Poetry Out Loud competition. A dozen Explorers took part in their first competition with a group-wide competition won by Explorer Sierra Ward who represented the organization in the state finals. Alayna Kuhn entered and won the essay competition which asked students to highlight what they learned from the poets they selected and how it relates to their lives today.

Alayna’s essay is entitled An Eye-Opening Experience and an Analysis of Langston Hughes’ “I Look at the World” (see entire essay below.)

Poetry Out Loud is funded through a partnership between Michigan Humanities and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Additional support is generously provided by the Liesel Litzenburger Meijer Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Poetry Foundation.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation provide free, standards-based curriculum materials—all available online—which teachers may choose to use in their classrooms. These include a poetry anthology containing more than 1,100 classic and contemporary poems, a teacher’s guide, lesson plans, posters, and video and audio on the art of recitation.

Since the program began in 2005, more than 4 million students and 65,000 teachers from 16,000 schools across the country have participated in Poetry Out Loud. During the 2020-21 school year, nearly 80 teachers and 3,800 students took part in Michigan. At Michigan’s virtual competition, five judges assessed the students’ recitations based on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, overall performance, and accuracy.

Winning Essay by Alayna Kuhn

An Eye-Opening Experience and an Analysis of Langston Hughes’ “I Look at the World”

Although I enjoy writing, English is not my favorite subject. So, I never thought I would enjoy poetry. And I definitely would have never seen myself participating in a poetry recital competition. When we were given the opportunity to participate in the Poetry Out Loud program, honestly, my first thought was: “For real? Poetry? This is not my thing.”  But I decided to go into it with an open mind, thinking I’ll do my best and see what happens.  And I am so glad that I did! 

Participating in the Poetry Out Loud program has personally changed me in a positive way. It has helped me learn to step out of my comfort zone and try something I have never done before. I love to sing and play guitar and, although I have performed in front of many audiences, there was just something different about reciting a poem. But if you think about it, the lyrics of a song are simply a poem—just attached to a melody. Both are rhythmic, artistic expressions of the author’s thoughts and feelings.  So actually, poetry wasn’t as different as I originally thought.

The Inspiration

After hearing Amanda Gorman’s poetry recitation at the presidential inauguration, I was very impressed. She is the youngest inaugural poet our country has ever had. The way she expressed her emotions throughout different parts of her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” showed creativity at its best.  I was captivated by the way she smiled, the cadence of her voice, and the facial expression she used when she said, “Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.”  To see this level of artistic ability and talent from a young African American woman made me feel proud and motivated, since I too am a young African American woman.  If she could command the attention of the world during such a historic moment, then surely I could try something new.  This gave me the final push that I needed to be bold enough to not only participate in Poetry Out Loud, but to find a poem that would allow me to give voice to things I see us experiencing in our country.   

Selecting my Poem

Participating in the Poetry Out Loud program has made me realize that poetry is also really interesting!  The first step that I took was to narrow down the selections to find a poem that would truly resonate with me. I chose to search specifically for poets who were African American. Searching through the database and reviewing all of the different poets and their pieces was eye-opening and a bit overwhelming. Usually in school we are assigned poetry to read, but I have never had to select a poem in this way. There were so many options! Being able to read the poets’ biographies was also inspirational. I had never heard of many of the poets, so to be able to search by topic, length of poem, etc., and to see all of the different options, was truly amazing.

Since there were many African American poets to choose from, it was hard to find a few to focus on. Each poem that I reviewed was interesting in its own way; each poem had something that made it special; each poem told a story and each poet had their own story to tell. Some poems were hilarious, like Gwendolyn Brooks’ “Genetics.” Some were sorrowful, like Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird.”  But all of them evoked some form of emotion, like one poem that I chose by Langston Hughes called “I Look at the World.” This poem made me feel empowered!

“I Look at the World” stood out to me because it made me think deeply about how the world has viewed and treated African Americans. The poem discusses the restricting, brainwashing, and stifling behavior that was done to the African American race. The first stanza in the poem expresses what Hughes sees, “This fenced-off narrow space/Assigned to me.”  This made me think long and hard. Because for me, although I obviously know that I am African American, I don’t think I truly understood the depth of the hurt and pain that my race has gone through. And this pain continues to be felt today. 

After reading poems and other literature like this, I now understand that there were (and still are) people in this world who don’t want to see a whole race of people progress. They want to keep us oppressed within, as Langston Hughes stated, “silly walls.” At the end, the poet also stated that he was no longer blind, that he would no longer be oppressed, and that his hands were powerful and capable enough to “build the world that’s in my mind.” 

This is a powerful, powerful statement! This is inspiration at its best. I now know that silly walls of oppression are not in my future. I am determined to push past any and every barrier that is placed in my way, even the barriers that are unspoken. Even the barriers that may have been subconsciously planted in my mind. Even the barriers that others believe are unbreakable. I will reach every goal that I set for myself. And that is how I plan to look at this world. 

The Lesson

This experience has made me realize that poetry is a powerful form of expression. Poetry tells a story; poetry teaches a lesson; poetry inspires generations. Poetry is art. Reciting a poem takes poetry to a whole other level. It takes you from simply reading the words on a page to absorbing the words in your mind. You are able to interpret the words, channel the emotions that the author could have felt, and transform that into your own performance. Kind of like an actor reading a script. The audience has to be able to feel what you’re trying to portray. Reciting a poem deepens your understanding of the text. I could literally see myself in the shoes of the author. I could envision myself having a conversation with the author—based solely off solely his words, and that was moving to me. 

The Poetry Out Loud competition has opened my eyes to a different form of art. I am inspired to think outside the box a little more. I am inspired to step out of my comfort zone more often. I am inspired as I learn to make my own words sing through essays and future poems I will write. Being a part of this competition has allowed me to see the opportunities in exploring new challenges…and to take on the world!