New Town High School senior wins statewide poetry contest

Before becoming Maryland's National Poetry Out Loud contest winner — beating dozens of other state poetry lovers in a recitation competition — New Town High School senior Sharese Acheampong had to beat one thing: her fear of public speaking.

Acheampong said her fear started early in her schooling career. Growing up with Ghanaian parents, Acheampong and her family mostly spoke Twi in the home. When she started going to school, she said English came more slowly for her than many of her peers.

"That experience led me to believe that speaking in public wasn't my thing," Acheampong said. "I thought bad things would happen if I tried to speak in front of a large group of people, so I veered away from it."

Acheampong said she first took part in the Poetry Out Loud competition in 10th grade. At the time, she said, it just seemed like an interesting extracurricular, but after participating, a love of language was sparked.

"I had never really come across poetry before, except in my English classes," Acheampong said. "Going through that whole process opened me up to this entirely new world of poetry that I had no idea about."

Acheampong said she was instantly drawn to the format, and began working on poetry of her own almost immediately after competing. She took her junior year off, but returned to compete again during her senior year.

"It's one of the most pure forms I've found where I can express myself," Acheampong said. "It's a very deliberate process. With other artforms, there's more of an interpretation that comes along with it. In poetry, there's a very literal and deliberate delivery that's very comforting in a way."

This year was the 50th anniversary for the National Endowment for the Arts who sponsors the event alongside the Poetry Foundation and state art agencies. As part of their celebration of a half-century of artistic support, the Poetry Out Loud contest was expanded. In past years, students merely recited pieces of poetry selected from the Poetry Out Loud archives.

During this year's contest, in addition to the selections, students were asked to present original poems of their own. Acheampong said this change in the format was hardly an issue, as she's spent the past two years honing her craft.

For the contest, she composed a poem "The Morrison House," first assembled for a creative writing class at New Town High.

"The scene is set at Thanksgiving dinner where the women are cooking and the men are eating," Acheampong said. "I tried to personify the house itself and represent the emotions of the members of the family at that moment."

In her poetry, Acheampong said she tries to highlight nuances of character, and pay attention to minor aspects of life that may be overlooked.

For her poetry selections, Acheampong chose "It was not Death for I stood up" by Emily Dickinson, "Make a Law so that the Spine Remembers Wings" by Larry Levis and "Poem about People" by Robert Pinsky. Acheampong said though all three poems come from different eras and tackle different pieces of subject matter, all three deal with interaction between human beings. Acheampong said she likes poems that deal with universal subject matter.

"When something resonates with you, even if it's a song or a dance, when you perform it, you're more genuine," Acheampong said. "It's an unspoken criteria that you find a poem that resonates with you."

Acheampong ended up beating the nine state finalists to become the top Maryland victor. Following the state round, she moved on to compete in the National Poetry Out Loud finals against nine other winning students who won their way through state competitions and national semifinals. Though she didn't end up taking home the national prize, she said she was thrilled to have the chance to participate.

"At my school, there are not a lot of people as interested in poetry as adamantly or as outwardly as I am," Acheampong said. "To meet all of these people who have the same passion I have was very gratifying and humbling. It was so warm and comforting to realize that on top of being recognized, on top of doing something you love to do, you got to meet these wonderful people. It was just icing on the cake."

Jacob.deNobel@carrollcountytimes.com

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Twitter.com/Jacob_deNobel

"The Morrison House"

By Sharese Acheampong

The Morrison Women had affixed themselves

with the art of modern cooking.

They folded themselves into the bread

and polished the dishes until they bled

and their fingers were sore

and all of it for

the art of modern cooking.

The Morrison Men had affixed themselves

with the task of always eating.

The Morrison women's' mouths

in an insufferable drought

when the Morrison men

eat again,

always, always eating.

The Morrison House had affixed itself

with the job of always cleaning

the unspoken words of the Morrison wives,

and all of the secrets that they try to hide,

sweeping up old wives' tales,

and polishing ugly truths, when all else fails

to keep up the guise,

with the job of always cleaning.

The Walls in the House

were not owned by the Morrisons.

They had affixed themselves with the art of always

watching.

Transfixed by a Thanksgiving Dinner to die for.

The turkey sits

as the center piece

and for a moment, the Morrisons are still.

But the Walls have known

the Morrison men since they were boys.

How more often than not

stirring the pot

kept the Morrison women alive.

For the Morrison House

often had to clean up Morrison blood

And the Morrison men

had eaten much more

than just the food on their plate.

And the Morrison women

had learned to turn

their food into their hate.