Anna Kahle, a junior at Lima Central Catholic High School, was named the 2019 Ohio Poetry Out Loud (POL) state champion March 8 at Ohio’s 14th annual POL state finals competition on March 8. Anne Kahle’s winning performance consisted of a recitation of three poems: “Enough” by Suzanne Buffam, “Early Affection” by George Moses Horton and “Now I Pray” by Kathy Engel.
Amanda Etchison writes on the Arts Ohio Blog: “Of the three poems she selected, Kahle said she favors Engel’s “Now I Pray,” which she recited in the second round of competition. The poem depicts the narrator’s encounter with a homeless man and a boy searching for a church that might offer them a meal.
‘It is so powerful and so moving …. I think everyone has felt a time when they’ve wanted to help someone but they can’t, or they look back on a time when they could’ve helped someone but they didn’t,” Kahle said. “I think it’s very relatable and poignant.’“
Anne Kahle will be traveling to Washington, D.C., from April 29 to May 1 to represent Ohio at the Poetry National Finals. We wish her the very best of luck!
Read more on Hometown Stations and on the Arts Ohio Blog.
