After winning the school-wide Poetry Out Loud competition in December, Wrishija Roy will soon be headed to the state level competition. Roy says in order to prepare she is, “…trying my best to prepare and improve on my performance by expressing the emotions and attitude that are embodied in the poems.”

“I’ve really enjoyed Poetry Out Loud, and it’s become like an escape from all the regular schoolwork that we do, so I’m excited to continue this experience at regionals,” she said. 

The two pieces Roy will be performing are “Weighing In” by Rhina P. Espaillat and “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain” by Emily Dickinson. Roy says she chose “Weighing In” because “I really liked the meanings it conveyed.” She also says that she chose “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain” because “I had watched a recitation of it that made me realize how cool the poem was and how expressive my performance could be.”

Poetry Out Loud is a national contest for people to memorize and recite poems. This is not the first time an MSMS student has competed: Joy Carino, co-president of GUS, also made it to the state level when she competed last year. However, Roy says that this is her first time doing anything like Poetry Out Loud. She felt compelled to join the contest since she wanted to try something new and had recently become interested in poetry. 

“I never understood the value of poetry until I participated in this competition. I’ve come to realize that poetry is such an expressive form of art,” Roy said. She will go to the state competition in Jackson on March 10.