Over 150 spectators packed the Black Box Theatre Tuesday night as season seven of Project Poet premiered with a combination of emotion, humor, and sing-alongs.
With a record number of competing poets and an increase in prize money, this season of Project Poet promises to be a fierce competition. Seventeen contestants recited their poems depicting a childhood memory. Ranging from intensely emotional to light and sarcastic, the poets treated the audience and judges to a wide array of poetic performances.
While the judges tallied the scores, Melody Teo, a junior from Malaysia, led the audience in a rousing acoustic medley of songs from Disney’s "The Lion King." The judges returned just as the crowd finished off the last lines of "Hakuna Matata."
David Pluebell, a junior from Plano, Texas, won the night with his hilarious poem about watching an episode of "Blue’s Clues." Along with winning week one, Pluebell earned immunity for next week as he and 13 other contestants gear up for week two and a whole new challenge.
The final poet who remains in print after the final challenge will be awarded the coveted title of Poet Laureate of the Spadra Valley, along with $750 in prize money. The top five finishers will all receive prize money, generously donated by University president Dr. Rick Niece and first-lady Sherée.
"Project Poet" began in 2006 as the brainchild of Ozarks’ professor of English, Dr. David Strain and his former colleague, Dr. Kendrick Prewitt. The competition challenges students to draw on their creative writing skills and their wit, and is open to students from any program on campus.
For more information about the competition, including details about each challenge and a list of the winning poets for each week, see http://students.ozarks.edu/studentlife/events/projectpoet/.
"The Blue Truth"
Copyright 2012 By David Pluebell
So there I sat with my sister, me on the edge of my seat.
The anticipation of the moment had me hooked
For we were now no longer innocent children
But mini-Sherlocks minus the hats and tobacco.
That vile scum of a suspect had been playing mindgames with me for too long.
I vowed that this time, I would get to the end before all the clues were revealed.
But the deck was stacked against me
I will admit that.
With only 22 minutes to go I set about looking
for the tell-tale signs.
A print…A paw print
The color of a crystal clear sky and canine in nature.
What was it on?
A Crown?
Oh, Steve, Steve, Steve….What have you gotten me into?
What could he possibly do with that headpiece?
I looked to him, and he had let me down.
He passed right by it without a single glance.
I had to call his attention to it.
He seems blinded to the hunt by the betrayal of his former partner.
Another! Get Your Head in the Game!
But it’s on a shower curtain.
I wrote it down in my notebook,
my sister helping me to follow the correct design
She was just calm and content
as if she already knew how this game was going to play out.
We had only gotten this clue when all of a sudden there was an unexpected delivery.
Mail? At a time like this?
Unless it’s from the chief, I hardly think it should concern us.
But no, I sat back as he delved into the lives of his friends.
I suppose we all need our breaks.
Surely this Pooch Serpico has been plaguing his heart deeply.
Here we are.
The last piece of the puzzle hidden inside a painting.
What a clever mongrel.
Who never thought we would dig up what was buried.
But if Blue Skidoo’d, we would too.
Now, I eased back into the woven fabrics of my sofa
For I had uncovered what she had been planning from the get go
Crown, Curtain, rod….It was elementary
This cur had wanted to pretend to be a king.
Chuckling I watched the head detective collapse upon his "thinking chair"
He still hasn’t discovered the intricacies of his case.
Meanwhile, My sister and I watched him bake
Eating some cookies…Chocolate chip
Just like my case, It too had tiny morsels strewn throughout that I was keen sniff out.
So time for "so long" is it?
We solved the case, and a new one would not present itself until the next morning.
I guess we can sing just one more song
As I was soon to be on leave for Gullah Gullah Island to celebrate my private eye work.
Topics: Student Events