Poetry Out Loud

Luke Williams, a student at Jackson High School, recites "Late Echo" by John Ashbery during the Poetry Out Loud regional competition Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Mariah Griggs recites "Deliberate" by Amy Uyematsu during the Poetry Out Loud regional competition Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau. A student at New Madrid County High School, Griggs won first place. (Fred Lynch)

Abby Ritter, a student at Notre Dame Regional High School, recites "It was not Death, for I Stood Up" by Emily Dickinson during the Poetry Out Loud regional competition Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Bradford Hutcheson recites "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley during the Poetry Out Loud regional competition Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau. A student at East Prairie High School, Bradford won second place. (Fred Lynch)

Bradford Hutcheson recites "The Death of Allegory" by Billy Collins during the Poetry Out Loud regional competition Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Mary Smith, a student from The Gift of Dance Studio, presented performed "poetry in motion" during intermission at the Poetry Out Loud regional competition. (Fred Lynch)

Murielle Wyman, executive director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, welcomes everyone to the Poetry Out Loud regional competition. (Fred Lynch)