Elijah P. Orengo didn't make it to the top of the poetry-reciting pyramid, but at least he didn't have to go home early.

"I'm still proud of myself," said Orengo, 16, shortly after returning to Atlanta from Washington, D.C., where he represented Georgia in a national recitation competition called Poetry Out Loud. Orengo went up against other high school champions from every state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

They met at George Washington University on April 28 for two days of high-stakes versifying. Orengo, a Westlake High sophomore, finished among the top 12 after the first day of semifinals before being eliminated in the second day of competition.

"I'm still amped," said Orengo, who is the youngest state champion and the first Georgian in the three years of the competition to make it to the second day of finals. He recited poems by Albert Goldbarth and William Shakespeare.

Orengo returned to a blizzard of complimentary letters and offers of speaking engagements. "I've got a fourth-grade class from a Kennesaw charter school, and every one of the kids wrote letters congratulating me," he said. "It almost made me cry. I'm going up there to speak with their class. I still feel like I'm a winner."

Shawntay Henry of the U.S. Virgin Islands was this year's winner, receiving a $20,000 scholarship. Orengo and Henry have stayed in touch.

The young speaker, who is also a poet, hasn't decided whether he will enter the contest next year or step aside and "share the wealth" with other ambitious reciters. But one of his plans, he says, is to eventually open up a poetry and drama camp and train more Georgians to compete nationally.