[Episode 6] ”How to Triumph like a Girl” by Ada Limon with Annika Brelsford

Meagan: Hello, this is Meagan with the Poetry podcast. Will you please state your name, your pronouns, and your grade?

 

Annika: Hi, I’m Annika. I use she/her pronouns and I’m in sophomore year.

 

Meagan: Could you please recite your poem for us?

 

Annika: Yeah so, my favorite poem is “How to Triumph like a Girl” by Ada Limon. So this is how it goes:

 

I like the lady horses best,

how they make it all look easy,

like running 40 miles per hour

is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.

I like their lady horse swagger,

after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!

But mainly, let’s be honest, I like

that they’re ladies. As if this big

dangerous animal is also a part of me,

that somewhere inside the delicate

skin of my body, there pumps

an 8-pound female horse heart,

giant with power, heavy with blood.

Don’t you want to believe it?

Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see

the huge beating genius machine

that thinks, no, it knows,

it’s going to come in first.

 

Meagan: That’s gorgeous. Who is that by?

 

Annika: Ada Limon.

 

Meagan” Cool, so how did you choose that poem?

 

Annika: My other two poems that I have for the competition are “It was not Death for I Stood Up” by Emily Dickinson and “Interlude” by Amy Lowell and the overall like feeling of both of those is pretty subdued as pretty like calmer like “It was not Death” is a little bit more intense, but they're still pretty like on the melancholy side. Whereas “How to Triumph like a Girl” is a lot more like inspiring, it’s uplifting. It's just like it's structured around resistance and like kind of liberation and I really like those themes and so I was looking for something - a poem that emenated those themes more than my other two had. So it was kind of my second poem that I chose after choosing “interlude” and then I chose finally for the competition.

 

Meagan: That’s so cool. Okay so, competition, so this is a Poetry Out Loud competition, right?

Annika: Yeah, so Poetry Out Loud is basically a program that is held in schools and you first compete at your school level, then at a regional level then at a state level and finally at a national level and it is a competition like it's a contest basically and it’s merit-based. So it's just whoever kind of finally wins, they have the ability to win $20,000. And then second place wins $10,000 and then third place wins $5,000 so it’s a really really cool program and each student chooses three poems to recite and one of the poems has to be pre-19th century or pre 20th century. And then one of them has to be 25 lines or fewer. So it's like a pretty open kind of easy to prepare for in a way competition, but it's very rewarding.

 

Meagan: And what stage are you at in the competition? 

 

Annika: So currently we passed, Gavin Kimmel and I who is a junior, he and I both passed the school level and the regional level. So now we are currently advancing to State finals which will be on the 25th [of February.] So who next Tuesday. That will be held in Mankato and then the national finals which are held in Washington DC in March, but there is only one person who can advance from the whole state like competition that can go to Nationals. So there's like a one in like thirty chance that that would be me, so like I kind of highly doubt it will be me, but it’s fun to imagine that, for sure. 

 

Meagan: For sure. So back to your poem. What do you think is the most exciting line to you? 

 

Annika: Well, for the “How to Triumph like a Girl” poem, I think I really like the “don't you want to believe it line?” because after the whole kind of exposition of that poem is like talking about the horses and how Ada Limon really likes how they're ladies than how she can connect with that because just purely because like she kind of feels that similar almost femininity in like that that race.So she's trying to convince the reader like I am a part of this as well. Like I could be a horse if I wanted to like I could triumph, I could run, I could sprint, and I could win. And so I think that “don't you want to believe it” line is the most powerful because it's like she's building up to this line and then there’s kind of just this like this “don't you believe me yet” Like can't you see it too. Don't you wish it was true that I had that much power and I think the kind of story or the message behind the poem is like, you don't have to believe it like you already kind of do. You don't need to have an 8 pound female horse heart to be able to triumph like a girl and be able to do these things.

 

Meagan: Do you think that’s part of the reason that drew you to it because it's such like female empowerment and that’s something really strive for at SPA or do you think that’s more part of your identity kind of thing?

 

Annika: I think I really identified with the poem because of that feminism kind of story that it had but also like when you're choosing a poem for Poetry Out Loud specifically there needs to be a clear narrative kind of because if there's not like a clear story arc a little bit, it kind of gets lost in the recitation. There's less to hold on to as the audience. And so I think I really love this poem because it is totally comprehendable. Like you understand every word that is being written and it's not like a puzzle to figure out like I understand this story. I understand this narrative. That being said, puzzle poems are great, too. “It was not Death for I Stood up” is one of mine and it’s quite the puzzle indeed because it is like 1800s. But yeah, I was really drawn to this poem because of all of its themes of resistance and I guess the fact that like I identify as a woman and so it was even more inspiring for me to recite that. Like if I identified as a man, it would be definitely different. It was definitely a self identifying kind of thing.

 

Meagan: That’s super cool. Do you have anything else that you would like to add to it?

 

Annika: If you’re considering doing Poetry Out Loud, you should. It’s like no risks. The only thing that you’re risking is your spot in the competition and so it doesn't affect your grades or anything and should totally do it because it's truly like allowed me to meet people and I've only been to like regionals. Like I can't imagine having people on meet at State and it kind of I think it definitely opened my eye to more about what poetry is about.  It’s about like sharing and connecting with other people and sharing your story and it doesn't even matter if it's your poem or not. Like you can find a little bit of your story in any poem, like it doesn’t have to be yours.

 

Meagan: That’s super cool. Thank you so much.

 

Annika: Yeah, thank you.