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Four teens on why they like poetry

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

High school students from around the country are here in D.C. this week to compete in the 20th annual Poetry Out Loud National Finals. Students memorize and perform poems in a variety of styles and time periods. We asked some of this year's 55 competitors how they're preparing.

EMILY PORTER: My name is Emily Porter. I'm from Logan High School in Logan County, West Virginia.

"The Coming Woman" by Mary Weston Fordham.

Looking at the poem, you have to dissect each section as a way to fully understand what the poet is trying to say.

Dear me. What a slow, poky man.

Right now, I am spending my days watching myself in the mirror, watching each move that I make to make sure that the moves that I make are interpreting the poem as they need to be interpreted.

ZEKE MOSES: My name is Zeke Moses, and I'm a freshman at Bexley High School in Columbus, Ohio.

"America, I Sing You Back" by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke.

To be so honest, I was never the type of person who loved poetry or appreciated poetry to the fullest. But as I've gone through this process, I've developed a newfound love of poetry.

Before America began to sing, I sung her to sleep, held her cradleboard, wept her into day.

NYLA DINKINS: My name is Nyla Dinkins. I attend Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington, D.C.

"Learning To Read" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

I think judges really want to understand or see that you can understand the poem and then also you can be the vessel of that information. And I think the way in which you make that poem your own is something that's really, like, powerful for judges to see.

Our masters always tried to hide book learning from our eyes. Knowledge didn't agree with slavery - 'twould make us all too wise.

SHAPIRO: That was Nyla Dinkins from Washington, D.C., Zeke Moses from Ohio and Emily Porter from West Virginia. They spoke with NPR's Elizabeth Blair. The champion of Poetry Out Loud will be announced Wednesday night.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Elizabeth Blair is a Peabody Award-winning senior producer/reporter on the Arts Desk of NPR News.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.