Students compete in poetry reading

IRONWOOD - The Ironwood Memorial Building's auditorium acted as a competition hall for the Poetry Out Loud competition on Monday morning, with five students from area schools aiming to earn their place in the coming state competition.

Event coordinator Rebecca Binkley of the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District said the competition is a national competition where high school students select two poems from an anthology to read to judges. Students are judged on accuracy of the reading, the meaning they can ex-press of the poem, and any dramatic flair they can add.

One of the big goals locally this year is to spread the word of the competition, so more students may be inspired to participate in the future, Binkley said.

Five Ironwood students competed - Aiden Bach, Reino Ranta, Kali Traczyk, Sarah Lauzon and Jaiden Demaray.

Lauzon read Sappho's "One Girl" and Charles Lamb's "Thoughtless Cruelty," and was declared winner of the regional competition.

"I picked the first one, because I love the stories of Sappho, and the history of how they found her writings," said Lauzon.

Bach said the pieces she selected held meaning to her, such as her first selection, "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost.

"I remember getting into debates with my Papa, about what we would prefer, fire or ice. And the piece really reflects the modern way of thinking," she said.

Bach was the runner-up for the competition. She also read "Flowers" by Cynthia Zarin.

Ranta said the poems she selected reflected a lot of her personal emotions and recent sorrows. "I felt understood by the poetry."

She selected the pieces in memory of her father, who had passed away in July. "I feel like it honors him in some way."

Ranta read "Dirge Without Music" by Edna St. Vincent Millay and "The Light the Dead See" by Frank Standford.

"It's telling you about how you shouldn't trust everyone and that not everyone is a good person in their own ways," said Traczyk about one of her poems: "Another One of the World's Liars" by Mohja Kahf.

Traczyk also read "What horror to wake at night" by Lorine Niedecker.

Demaray read "The Barnacle" by A.E. Stallings and "Cathedral of Salt" by Nick Flynn.

"I chose my first poem because it depicts someone that is stubborn to change. ... I kind of chose it because it reminds me of a lot of people we know," said Demaray. "As for my second one, I chose it because it tells a really interesting story."