In the afternoon, I photograph the county's Poetry Out Loud contestants, high school students who have spent weeks and weeks memorizing poems. They are presenting the poems today before a panel of judges and an audience of parents and fellow competitors. Each is uniquely gifted and brings his or her own sensitivity and interpretation to the stage. I am impressed and grateful that I do not have to choose which of them will advance to the California Poetry Out Loud contest in March. I judged a campus Poetry Out Loud competition last month and wished I could have awarded prizes to each of the kids. It takes courage to stand in front of peers and present, from memory, the works of famed poets.
One young lady reads a piece by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) that is familiar...yet strangely new. How appropriate that it should be a 21st century teenager making perfect sense of Longfellow's admonition: to experience life to its fullest. How can anyone hear these words without being stirred to action?
A Psalm Of Life
...Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day...
...Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
P.S. Paste this link into your browser; the Poetry Out Loud story and pix should be online sometime on February 27: www.scoe.net
1 comment:
Cathy - love your blog! We're all in this together! Your teammate...Shelley
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