Fox the Poet

Rowie Shebala wins the January Sedona Poetry Slam

2012-01-22T16:13:00.004-07:00

Rowie Shebala won the second Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Rowie Shebala wins the second Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2011-12 National Poetry Slam Season.

Benediction: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Round 1
Random Draw
Calibration: Danielle Silver, of Sedona

Ellenelizabeth, of Sedona, 18.6
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 27.0
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 27.0
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 29.0
Gabbie Jue, of Winslow, 27.6
Kendra Shebala, of Flagstaff, 25.5
Tara Pollock, of Flagstaff, 29.7
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 29.3, after 0.5 time penalty
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 29.2
Josh Goldberg, of Oak Creek Ranch School, 28.9
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood, 29.0
Christopher Harbster, , of Flagstaff, 29.0
Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix, 30.0

Sorbet: Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff

Round 2
Reverse Order

Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix, 29.4, 59.4
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 27.8, 56.8
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood, 28.8, 57.8
Josh Goldberg, of Oak Creek Ranch School, 27.6, 56.5
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 28.2, after 1.5 time penalty, 57.2
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 29.7, 59.0
Tara Pollock, of Flagstaff, 28.7, after 1.0 time penalty, 58.4
Kendra Shebala, of Flagstaff, 27.4, 52.9
Gabbie Jue, of Winslow, 28.4, 56.0
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 28.7, after 1.0 time penalty, 57.7
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 30.0, 57.0
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 29.1, 56.1
Ellenelizabeth, of Sedona, 25.3, 43.9

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, featured at the
Sedona Poetry Slam on Jan. 7.

Feature: Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff

Sorbet: Gary Bowers, of Phoenix

Round 3
High to Low (Top 7)

Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix, 29.4, 88.8
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 29.5, 88.5
Tara Pollock, of Flagstaff, 28.9, 87.3
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood, 29.1, 86.9
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 26.5, after 3.5 time penalty, 84.2
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 29.6, 86.8
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 29.8, 86.8

Final Scores

Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix, 88.8
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 88.5
Tara Pollock, of Flagstaff, 87.3
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood, 86.9
TIE: Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 86.8
TIE: Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 86.8
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 84.2

Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 56.8
Josh Goldberg, of Oak Creek Ranch School, 56.5Kendra Shebala, of Flagstaff, 52.9
Gabbie Jue, of Winslow, 56.0
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 56.1Ellenelizabeth, of Sedona, 43.9

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Slamoff Point Standings

4 points
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff
The Klute, of Phoenix
Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix
3 points
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott

2 points
Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix
Tara Pollock, of Flagstaff
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman
nodalone, of Flagstaff
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff
1 point
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Ellenelizabeth, of Sedona
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff
Gabbi Jue, of Flagstaff
Jack Egan, of Sedona
Jahnilli Akbar, of New York City
Josh Goldberg, of Oak Creek Ranch School
Kendra Kenj Shebala, of Flagstaff
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff
Valence, of Flagstaff
0.5 points

Danielle Silver, of Sedona
Gary Bowers, of Phoenix
Gary Every, of Sedona

Sedona Poetry Slam season's final list of features

2012-01-08T09:54:00.007-07:00

2012 Sedona Poetry Slam Season

Upcoming features:

Saturday, February 18
Feature: Aaron Johnson, Phoenix, AZ

Saturday, March 10
Feature: Seth Walker, Austin, Texas

Saturday, April 7
Feature: Bill Campana, Phoenix, AZ

Saturday, May 5
Feature: Sean Patrick Conlon, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Past features:

Saturday, December 3
Feature: Jahnilli Akbar, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Saturday, January 7
Feature: Ryan Brown, Flagstaff, AZ

Jahnilli Akbar, Sedona Poetry Slam 12-3-2011, teaser poem

2012-01-07T17:00:00.001-07:00

Featured poet Jahnilli Akbar performs between the first and second rounds of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

(My camerawoman started the tape a few seconds too late, so the first few words are cut off. My apologies.)

New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar.

Jahnilli Akbar is a 22-year-old poet and activist, born in Chicago and raised in northern Mississippi. Currently he splits his time between Harlem and Brooklyn, N.Y.

Akbar’s poetry is best defined as an artistic mesh of alternative black, Semitic and queer life in America.

Akbar won the 2010 Rookie of the Year award at the Wade-Lewis Invitational, the second largest colligate slam in the country with more than 100 participants, held at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Akbar is also the recipient of the 2011 Fresh Fruit Festival Queer Poet of the Year Award. He is a known face on the underground New York City art scene, as part of a movement called the Bushwick Renaissance, and as a member of Ground- Floor Collective, a leftist, African diaspora-based, predominately lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer group of artists. The Ground-Floor Collective, the Brecht Forum & Malcolm X Grassroots Movement curates the annual Black August art show, a fundraiser for political prisoners abroad.

Many stages, venues and spaces have hosted Akbar’s poetry, including Nuyorican Poets’ Café, Bowery Poetry Club, Louder Arts, NYC Intangible Poetry Slam, SUNY New Paltz and the Brooklyn Museum, all in New York, the Seattle Poetry Slam, Chicago’s Mental Graffiti Slam and Wordplay Chicago.

In early November, Akbar published his first book, “Chronicles of a Contemporary Alternative American Negro,” and headed out on tour.

Ryan Brown performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

2012-01-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan Brown performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Flagstaff poet Ryan Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam
competitions in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as a member of the FlagSlam team,
getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009.

Ryan Brown is a poet's poet in every sense of the word. The mountain town of Flagstaff, is known for a poetry slam scene where poets come together as a community, and Brown has been at the center of the growth as the FlagSlam Poetry Slam's slammaster since 2008.

A slammaster is the administrative representative of a poetry slam scene and its de facto leader.

Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam competitions as a member of the FlagSlam team, getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009. At the helm of Flagstaff's slam scene, Brown has brought in featured poets such as Andrea Gibson and Gypsee Yo to help reinvigorate the poetry community in a town now bursting with poetic flavor. After a three-month hiatus spent farming in Hawai'i at the tail end of 2010, Brown has shifted the FlagSlam's location to Sundara Boutique and Gallery, which is quickly becoming one of Flagstaff's best venues for performance art.

An English major at Northern Arizona University, Brown has been writing and performing poetry for over four years, collaborating often with poets such as Frank O'Brien, John Cartier, and Sedona's Jessica Guadarrama and Christopher Fox Graham. He writes with the future in mind, his poems often revolving around the intimacy of human relationships.

Due to graduate from NAU in 2012, Brown also cultivates obsessions with baseball, skateboarding, and coffee, spending most of his time at school or at work, living the life of a pedestrian in a town where every destination is reachable on foot. Keys, wallet, cell phone, pen, and notepad: The essential tools for this particular poet.

Valence performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 201

2012-01-07T14:00:00.002-07:00

Valence performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Photo by Tara Graeber

Tyler Sirvinskas, aka Valence

Tyler Sirvinskas, aka Valence, is a poet among other things.
Valence has been a slam poet since 2010 and new to the format of slam, but not to the art of writing.
After living 14 years in Chicago, he has spent six years and
counting in Arizona.

Josh Wiss performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

2012-01-07T12:00:00.002-07:00

Josh Wiss performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Josh Wiss, Sedona National Poetry Slam Team, Sedona Poetry Slam, Studio Live

nodalone performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

2012-01-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

nodalone performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Photo by Tara Graeber

Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, was a member
of the 2011 Flagslam National Poetry Slam Team.

Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, is a member of the 2011 Flagslam National Poetry Slam Team.

Originally from East Lansing, Michigan, nodalone moved to Flagstaff in 2008 to attend Northern Arizona University.

He will complete degrees in both exercise science and psychology in 2012, with plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychology.

While quietly writing poetry for many years, nodalone has only recently begun performing his spoken word at slams and various events throughout Arizona.

Preferring to use his platform to address current political, cultural, and social issues, the poet gives a performance that captures the power of the issue in a personal and passionate style.

The Klute performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

2012-01-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Klute performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

The Klute, aka Bernard Schober, competed at the National Poetry Slam six times, for the Mesa Slam Team in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006, and the Phoenix Slam Slam Team in 2008 and 2009. He has led two of those teams to the NPS semi-final stage, ranking him among the best of the best nationwide. He was also the Mesa Grand Slam champion in 2005 and 2010.

Photo by Jessica Mason-Paull

Standing more than 6 feet tall and always bedecked in
a black trench coat, the Klute is hard to miss. When
poetry escapes his lips at full blast, he’s hard not to hear.

In an era when most artists and poets shy away from confronting politics, the Klute stands apart.

He has earned a reputation for in-your-face political commentary and over-the-top humor targeting Neo-Conservative politicians, crass laissez-faire commercialism and Goth subculture.

Originally from south Florida, The Klute writes almost exclusively in free verse, making his poetry conversational and relevant to even those who see poetry as something to avoid.

Standing more than 6 feet tall and always bedecked in a black trench coat, the Klute is hard to miss. When poetry escapes his lips at full blast, he’s hard not to hear.

The Klute has released three poetry chapbooks, "Escape Velocity," "Look at What America Has Done to Me" and "My American Journey," which prompted a cease and desist order from the attorneys of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“Despite the heat, [The Klute] wears a black trench coat almost everywhere he goes and if the setting permits, he’ll blast through enough slanderous commentary to make Andrew Dice Clay blush,” according to Phoenix 944 Magazine. “Today, his addiction for getting in front of the microphone and spitting out everything from a Dick Cheney haiku to a long-winded prose on race car driving to the late Hunter S. Thompson is as strong as his love for vodka and absinthe. If anyone’s seen ‘The Klute’ in action, they’d know it. If they haven’t, they must.”

Mikel Weisser performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

2012-01-07T09:00:00.001-07:00

Mikel Weisser performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Spencer Troth performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

2012-01-07T08:30:00.001-07:00

Spencer Troth performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Christopher "You Phonik" Harbster performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

2012-01-07T08:00:00.002-07:00

Photo by Saar Ingelbert

Christopher "You Phonik" Harbster

Christopher "You Phonik" Harbster performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Jack Egan performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

2012-01-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

Jack Egan performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Buy your tickets now for the Sedona Poetry Slam on Jan. 7

2012-01-06T11:26:00.001-07:00

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Jan. 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring Flagstaff Slammaster Ryan Brown.

Click here to buy your tickets now

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize.

The slam will the first of the 2011-12 season, expected to be more moving, more energetic and more intense because this year, poets will be competing for a slot in Sedona’s first National Poetry Slam Team.

After four years of collaborating with the Flagstaff and Phoenix metro area poetry slam scenes, the Sedona scene has developed the reputation and strength to muster its own team to send to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., in August. The eventual four-poet team will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Ryan Brown

Flagstaff poet Ryan Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam
competitions in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as a member of the FlagSlam team,
getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009.

Photo by Harley Deuce

The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox
Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff
team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

The Jan. 7 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between Dec. 3 and Saturday, May 5. Future slams will take place on Saturdays, Feb. 18, March 10, April 7 and May 5. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting and 1/2 point for calibrating. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1.

Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C. All poets are eligible in the slamoff except those already confirmed members of or coaching another National Poetry Slam or College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational or Brave New Voices team. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

What is Poetry Slam?

Tickets are $7 in advance and $12 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com. Click here to buy your tickets.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

Lauren Perry performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

2011-12-27T22:27:00.001-07:00

Photo courtesy of AvantNoir.com

Lauren Perry performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Gary Every calibration poem at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

2011-12-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Gary Every performs a calibration poem at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011,

Flagstaff Slammaster Ryan Brown features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Jan. 7

2011-12-22T19:34:00.001-07:00

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Jan. 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring Flagstaff Slammaster Ryan Brown.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize.

The slam will the first of the 2011-12 season, expected to be more moving, more energetic and more intense because this year, poets will be competing for a slot in Sedona’s first National Poetry Slam Team.

After four years of collaborating with the Flagstaff and Phoenix metro area poetry slam scenes, the Sedona scene has developed the reputation and strength to muster its own team to send to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., in August. The eventual four-poet team will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Ryan Brown

Flagstaff poet Ryan Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam
competitions in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as a member of the FlagSlam team,
getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009.

Photo by Harley Deuce

The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox
Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff
team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

The Jan. 7 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

What is Poetry Slam?

Founded in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets’ contents and performances.

Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.

Tickets are $7 in advance and $12 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

Ryan Brown, Aaron Johnson, Bill Campana and Sean Patrick Conlon to feature in Sedona

2011-12-10T12:31:00.002-07:00

With the first slam of the 2012 Sedona Poetry Slam season down, these are our upcoming feature poets

Saturday, Jan. 7: Ryan Brown, Flagstaff, AZ
Saturday, Feb. 18: Aaron Johnson, Phoenix, AZ
Saturday, March 10: To be announced.
Saturday, April 7: Bill Campana, Phoenix, AZ. Also National Poetry Month
Saturday, May 5: Sean Patrick Conlon, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Many thanks to Jahnilli Akbar, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who rocked the first slam on Saturday, Dec. 3.

The Klute wins the December Sedona Poetry Slam

2011-12-08T09:17:00.002-07:00

After a high-stakes Haiku Death Match, TheKlute wins the first Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2011-12 National Poetry Slam Season.


Photo courtesy of Jessica Mason-Paul With his Dec. 3 win, The Klute now leads the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team Standings.

Benediction: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Round 1
Random Draw
Calibration: Gary Every, of Sedona

Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 27.4
Jack Egan, of Sedona, 25.4
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 26.1
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff, 26.8
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 26.5
The Klute, of Phoenix, 28.2
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 27.5
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 26.6
Valence, of Flagstaff, 27.8
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 28.9

Sorbet: Jahnilli Akbar, of New York City

Round 2
Reverse Order

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 27.3, 56.2
Valence, of Flagstaff, 26.4, 54.2
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 27.0, 53.6
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 27.0, 54.5
The Klute, of Phoenix, 28.5, 56.7
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 27.1, 53.6
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff, 25.4, 52.2
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 26.1, 52.2
Jack Egan, of Sedona, of , 000, 000
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 28.3, 55.7

Feature: Jahnilli Akbar, of New York City

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Round 3
High to Low

The Klute, of Phoenix, 27.9, 84.6
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 28.4, 84.6
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 28.3, 000
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 27.8, 82.3
Valence, of Flagstaff, 27.4, 81.6
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 26.9, 80.5
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 27.0, 80.6
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff, 26.1, 78.3
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 26.5, 78.7
Jack Egan, of Sedona , 28.2, 79.9
Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Final Scores

The Klute, of Phoenix, 84.6, winning Haiku Death Match 3-2.
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 84.6, losing Haiku Death Match 3-2.
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 84.0
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 82.3
Valence, of Flagstaff, 81.6
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 80.6
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 80.5
Jack Egan, of Sedona, 79.9
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 78.7
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff, 78.3

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Slamoff Point Standings

4 points

The Klute, of Phoenix

3 points

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff

2 points

Lauren Perry, of Phoenix

1 point

Jahnilli Akbar, of New York City
Jack Egan, of Sedona
Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff
nodalone, of Flagstaff
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff
Valence, of Flagstaff
0.5 points
Gary Every, of Sedona

All You Need is Love, in 156 countries

2011-12-08T06:59:00.004-07:00

Ah, John Lennon, you lost poet, look what you did to the world.

Tonight: New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar features at Sedona Poetry Slam

2011-12-03T12:14:00.003-07:00

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Dec. 3, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize.

Poets expected to slam tonight:
Jack Egan, Sedona
Shaun "Nodalone" Srivastava, Flagstaff
The Klute, Phoenix
Lauren Perry, Phoenix
George Yamazawa Jr., Durham, North Carolina
Thom Stanley, Sedona
Brian Towne, Flagstaff
Frank O'Brien, Prescott
Mikel Weisser, So-Hi (near Kingman)
Ryan Brown, Flagstaff
Gary Every, Sedona

The slam will the first of the 2011-12 season, expected to be more moving, more energetic and more intense because this year, poets will be competing for a slot in Sedona’s first National Poetry Slam Team.

After four years of collaborating with the Flagstaff and Phoenix metro area poetry slam scenes, the Sedona scene has developed the reputation and strength to muster its own team to send to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., in August. The eventual four-poet team will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Dec. 3,
starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar.

Jahnilli Akbar

Jahnilli Akbar is a 22-year-old poet and activist, born in Chicago and raised in northern Mississippi. Currently he splits his time between Harlem and Brooklyn, N.Y.

Akbar’s poetry is best defined as an artistic mesh of alternative black, Semitic and queer life in America.

Akbar won the 2010 Rookie of the Year award at the Wade-Lewis Invitational, the second largest colligate slam in the country with more than 100 participants, held at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Akbar is also the recipient of the 2011 Fresh Fruit Festival Queer Poet of the Year Award. He is a known face on the underground New York City art scene, as part of a movement called the Bushwick Renaissance, and as a member of Ground- Floor Collective, a leftist, African diaspora-based, predominately lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer group of artists. The Ground-Floor Collective, the Brecht Forum & Malcolm X Grassroots Movement curates the annual Black August art show, a fundraiser for political prisoners abroad.

Many stages, venues and spaces have hosted Akbar’s poetry, including Nuyorican Poets’ Café, Bowery Poetry Club, Louder Arts, NYC Intangible Poetry Slam, SUNY New Paltz and the Brooklyn Museum, all in New York, the Seattle Poetry Slam, Chicago’s Mental Graffiti Slam and Wordplay Chicago.

In early November, Akbar published his first book, “Chronicles of a Contemporary Alternative American Negro,” and headed out on tour.

To compete in the slam, poets need at least three original poems, each three minutes long or shorter. No props, costumes or musical accompaniment are permitted. All types of poetry are welcome.

Photo by Harley Deuce

The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox
Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff
team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between Dec. 3 and Saturday, May 5. Future slams will take place on Saturdays, Jan. 7, Feb. 18, March 10, April 7 and May 5. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting and 1/2 point for calibrating. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1. Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C. All poets are eligible in the slamoff except those already confirmed members of or coaching another National Poetry Slam or Young Voices Be Heard team. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

What is Poetry Slam?

To slam:
Sign up at Studio Live by 7 p.m. or send a text message with your name to Graham at (928) 517-1400. Slots are first come, first serve.

"How to Make an Issue of the 'Zine Beat Tiger"

2011-11-27T09:00:00.010-07:00

The Art Of A Haus Show

How to Make an Issue of the 'zine Beat Tiger

Recipe:

1 set of weights
2 black jumpsuits
2 black masks
2 pair of black shoes
1 pair of wire cutter
1 large van
50 pounds of raw, uncooked meat
200 cc’s ketamine
1 stopwatch
1 tiger
1 copy of “Apocalypto”
1 ear to the ground1 used typewriter
I oversize coat
1 lawyer on retainer
1 pack of artists, raw and unpasteurized, large size

Step One:

begin lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
dress yourself and a partner in black jumpsuits
black masks, black shoes
find the local zoo or animal park
use the wire cutters on the external fence

find the tiger exhibit
choosing the right tiger is key:
Indochinese and Malayan tigers are endangered
    and the penalty for poaching
    is solitary confinement
Sumatran Tigers are on the verge of extinction
    and you face lifetime imprisonment
    in an Indonesian prison
    and you do not speak Indonesian
Siberian Tigers are too closely watched
    by gay magicians in Las Vegas

And Ligers,
    while humorous in “Napoleon Dynamite,”
    simply do not count
Bengal Tigers are most numerous
    and most easily acquired
now, insert ketamine into the raw meat
and throw it over the fence
wait 40 minutes
use the wire cutters on the fence
drive your van into the enclosure
lift the 500-pound animal into the van
it’s a good thing you started lifting all those weights

drive the tiger home
unload the animal into your garage
take photos for this month’s ’zine cover
release the tiger into the woods
don’t do so near a school
the tiger will be hungry when it wakes

Step Two

continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
Begin watching “Apocalypto”
understand that Mel Gibson is racist
forgive him, no one’s perfect,
focus on the film’s hero
watch it over and over
until you name your band Jaguar Paw
Memorize the following:

“I am Jaguar Paw,

son of Flint Sky.

My Father hunted this forest before me.

My name is Jaguar Paw.

I am a hunter.

This is my forest.

And my sons will hunt it with their sons

after I am gone.”

Step Three:

continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
take your ear
put it to the ground
hear the word on the street
all rumors are true

all conspiracies worth losing yourself in
repeat them, loudly, vibrantly and in print
feel free to embellish
that’s how rumors grow too big to control
become a cog in that wheel
find what’s “fair and balanced” in you
and delete that shit
bias is the only way to live
because it is sincere and punk rock
you are punk rock
say it, “I am punk rock!”
louder, you pussies!
life means nothing without passion and obsession

Step Four:

continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
head to the nearest thrift store
walk past the jeans
you have enough

stop in the T-shirt section
only if you’re a hipster
and to one-up other hipsters
but understand you’re a pretentious fuck
head to appliances
find a typewriter
a Brother Electric Typewriter is choice
choose one with character
like a bent “K” or a missing “Shift” key
so all your pages will be lowercase
capitalization is elitist
and we are the 99%

Step Five:

continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
but on an oversize coat
find an office supply store
ask who owns the place
if the cashier says, “that guy”
you are in a local mom-and-pop
pay full price
if the cashier says, “stockholders” or “some CEO”
you are in a corporate chain
so fill your pockets like it’s the day before the zombie apocalypse
and only staples and Sharpies will keep you safe
pack paper reams under your coat
if you are discovered,
feign going into labor
no one suspects a pregnant woman
if you are male, declare it a miracle
remember to thank Jesus loudly
if quarterbacks can do it, so can you
you’re a fucking artist, damn-it
and Jesus loves you, too
hide scissors in your sleeves
if you have to fight your way out
no security guard will risk bleeding out
over 10 packs of Pilot G-2s
Remember to thank the store in your Page 2 shoutouts

Step Six:

Search for vintage magazines
rescue them from recyclers
schedule a doctor’s appointment
don’t worry about insurance
you won’t be there long
instead, use a fake Social Security number
while the receptionist is busy
trying to solve that problem
grab every magazine older than 1983
you make need to make two trips
it’s a good thing you started lifting all those weights

each title serves a purpose
vintage Life is classy
    and you must have class
Vanity Fair is both chic and trashy
    you are chic and trashy
    and at 400 pages,
    it also offers plenty of material
National Geographic may have tigers
    but it always pictures of topless women
    in Third World countries
The Week is choc full of current events
    and you must inform
    most of your readers get their news
    from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
Buy one vintage copy of Peanuts
Wite-Out speech bubbles
and make Snoopy as foul-mouthed as you are
rewrite Charlie Brown into a hipster
and Linus a badass pimp
Schroeder can bitch about Peter Zimmerman
while Lucy can mourn Drugs Bunny’s expulsion
from every Sedona band

Step Seven:

continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
find the fire within you
you’ll need a lighter and a pack of
American Spirit Lights
rollies are also acceptable
dirties are punk rock
and, as previously, determined
you are punk rock
liquid courage will keep your writing lugubrious
    know Big Flats is cheaper than PBR
    so you can get wasted on pocket change
    47 Pound Rooster won’t cause headaches
    so buy in bulk

Step Eight:

continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
then, light up your cigarettes
start pouring beer and wine for your contributors
it’s going to be a long weekend
pick music that is profound
choose Bob Dylan
the aforementioned Jaguar Paw
pick punk that pulls the passion from your pockets like paper magic tricks
have the rollies and dirties handy
use them to fight off writer’s block
take your shoplifted blank paper
make sure it’s 100-percent recycled
art should be good for the planet
set up the typewriter
treat it like an old lover
who hates you
or an ex-roommate
who still owes you money
beat the keys like a prison bitch
truth is in a prison
your ’zine is a prison break
you are the TNT
light the fuse and explode

use your stolen Sharpies
the five-finger discounted scissors
cut up the magazines
splice Jay-Z alongside Ben Bernanke
have them debate how the lights on Hwy. 89A
will make alien saucer landings easier*
Nico needs the inspiration and the validation

*this message was approved by the Illuminati
make a collage of your photocopied friends
and fashion models and ask:
“who’s truly beautiful, motherfucker?”
place Lindsay Lohan next to Marilyn Monroe
and whisper, “Lindsay, where did you go wrong?”
use the Pilot G-2s that hospitalized a security guard
and pen brilliant music reviews and short stories
warn youngsters about the perils of Bath Salts
and poetry and pen drawings
in all the white spaces
this isn’t an art magazine
you don’t get paid by the page
let loose all those rumors
spill everyone’s secrets
make them so outlandish
even the suspects doubt their guilt
you’re not a journalist
you’re a fictionalist with nonfiction characters
if you don’t have the dirt, make it up
then wait for the lawsuits to hit you
remember, you have that lawyer on retainer
list so many inside jokes
even you’re out of the loop

use the leftover dirties and hit the copy center
being blazed making photocopying a Zen experience
building a zine is Zen
even the spelling is close
remember to add the cover with the tiger picture
ignore the new stories about the bodies
apparently, it found that elementary school
well, you can’t make art without breaking a few eggs

Step Nine:

Carry your zine everywhere
they will be heavy
it’s a good thing you started lifting all those weights
Spread your zine like a pyromaniac spreads forest fires
light the city ablaze
shotgun your zine into the hands of artists
like a sperm donor
art needs a father / art needs a mother
and you are both
hold house parties to celebrate the brilliance
of the art you help create like children
have a poet write a poem like this
to recount the epic
build a scene on your back
for the rest of the city to share
the burden will be heavy
but friends will help carry the load
because they too, are punk rock
it’s a good thing we started lifting all those weights

"Star Wars vs Star Trek" by Faldwin J. Bard and Christopher Fox Graham

2011-11-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Shonare Vhekadla clan of the Manadalorian Mercs surprise
Faldwin J. Bardand Christopher Fox Graham at Bookmans

Here it is, nerds of the world. The duo poem Faldwin J. Bard and I wrote together for our Sunday, Nov. 20, poetry feature at Sundara in Flagstaff.

Writing with Faldwin was a lot of fun. We wrote the poem at Bookmans in Flagstaff, which coincidentally was visited that day by the Shonare Vhekadla clan of the Manadalorian Mercs.

Of course, I had my lightsabers in the truck and I was wearing my vintage Star Wars T-shirt, so, well perfect.


Beneath this handsome exterior
	beats the heart of a nerd
and not your typical
	“I’ve read the novelizations of the Harry Potter movies”
nerd	nerd
or “I Wikipediaed ‘Twilight’ to sleep with the girl at Bookman’s”
nerd	nerd
	No
we’re NERDS	we’re NERDS
Spend six months working on a costume for a three-day convention
NERDS	NERDS
	Memorize the inner workings of interstellar starships
NERDS	NERDS
Spend more money on an authentic prop than I do on my girlfriend
NERDS	NERDS
	Become fluent in a fictional language I’ll never be able to put on my resume
NERDS	NERDS
we devote our life to the greatest space epic of all time	we devote our life to the greatest space epic of all time
filled with alien races from exotic worlds
	interstellar travel with impressive special effects
grand galactic space battles
	exploding torpedoes
Of, course we’re talking about
Star	Star
Wars Trek	Trek
Star Trek?	Star Wars?
Pointy-eared Vulcans and color-coded pajamas?
	Wrinkly green gnomes and shit-colored bathrobes?
How is Star Trek better than Star Wars?
	One word: Klingons
Original Series or after they became space bikers with wrinkly foreheads?
	Holodecks
You mean wet dream machines for filler episodes?
	Pon Farr
Yeah ’cause nerds need to point out we only get laid once every seven years
	So what’s so great about Star Wars?
Jedi Knights with Lightsabers
	Grown men dancing around with flashlights?
The Force
	Yeah, it was totally cool when Matilda did it
Mandalorians
	Midi-chlorians. ‘Nuff said.
	At least my technology makes sense
	Give me some dilithium crystals and a forcefield and I can build you a warpdrive
	because I have the specs for that memorized
	I doubt you can build a lightsaber
Whatever, I prefer my space epic focus on the characters not “Treknobabble”
You fix a busted hyperdrive the same way you fix a busted TV
You hit it with Wookie
Geordi La Forge just “reverses the polarity” or
“Calibrates the vertarium cortenide power grid with compressed personnel transporters”
	Why would you use vertarium cortenide for personnel transports?
	The molecular structure isn’t complex enough to handle organic lifeforms
Stop! It’s not about technology, it’s about characters
	Star Trek has a sentient android who performs Shakespeare, writes poetry, is anatomically correct and a programmed for a broad variety of pleasuring
	C3PO is just a rusty servant with a shitty British accent
Jean-Luc Picard is a Frenchman played by a Scotsman with a worse British accent
	Did you just insult the silky smooth baritone of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
	the Barry White of the Milky Way?
	at least he doesn’t sound like he’s been smoking two packs a day for 800 years
	“emphysema, I have”
Don’t insult the last Jedi Master!
who trained Obi-Wan Kenobi,	“tumor causing, teeth staining,
Ki-Adi-Mundi and Oppo Rancisis	smelly, puking habit”
Star Wars is a modern retelling of ancient Greek heroic epics:
a boy becomes a man
finds his father
Rescues him from himself
and saves the galaxy
	or he’s a whiny brat with daddy issues who kisses his own sister
But with the Force
Star Wars is better (said while doing the Jedi Mind Trick)
	Seriously?
	Don’t use your Jedi Mind Trick on me
	I will mindmeld your ass
	faster than you can say Pon Farr
Wait, what’s the difference between a Vulcan and a Romulan again?
	I’d explain, but we don’t have all night
	Isn’t an Ewok a dwarf Wookie?
Lightsabers!
	Holodecks!
The Force!
	Mindmelds!
Mandalorians!
	Klingons!
Gorram-it!	Gorram-it!
	Wait, did you just say “gorram-it”?
Yeah
	Shiny. You like “Firefly”?
Of course. Cowboys in space. What’s not to like?
	And Nathan Fillion
Morena Baccarin
So hot	So hot
	It’s so messed up that it got canceled
Yeah, what the hell was Fox thinking?
(exit stage together)	(exit stage together)

Azami with the Shonare Vhekadla clan of the
Manadalorian Mercs at Bookmans

Azami sent the Mandalorians over to our table. Which is one reason why she's awesome.

2011-11-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

Triple Poetry Feature

Faldwin J. Bard,

Frank O'Brien and

Christopher Fox Graham

Sunday, Nov. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. at

Sundara Boutique & Gallery
22 East Route 66, Flagstaff, AZ 86001

These three poets won the high stakes slam 2 weeks ago, for the right to perform in their own show.
This is that show.
For just $2 you can't NOT show up to hear some of Flagstaff and Northern Arizona's best voices, doing their best work.

Faldwin J. Bard

Faldwin J. Bard is a 21-year-old student who does poetry about everything from garden gnomes, to the trials and joys of being queer.
There are probably other interesting things about Faldwin, but you'll have to talk to him to find out. Or go to this show. Preferably both.

Christopher Fox Graham

Christopher Fox Graham is a Montana-born boy raised in Arizona. A slam poet since 2001 and newspaper editor since 2004, he currently hosts the Sedona Poetry Slam and Sedona Poetry open mic.
A member of the first FlagSlam poetry team in 2001, he toured the United States for three months in 2002, won the 2004 Northern Arizona Poetry Grand Slam, the 2005 Arizona All-Star Poetry Slam, and was a member of the 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2010 Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Teams, which competed around the Southwest and at Nationals. He was also a National Poetry Slam bout manager in 2003 and a venue manager in 2011. He has performed for MTV, on The Travel Channel, published four books of poetry, appeared in 10 spoken word anthologies and on 3 DVDs.
Graham also runs FoxThePoet, a poetry blog.

Frank O'Brien

Frank O'Brien discovered slam poetry in Flagstaff in 2007, and has been a member of the ever growing FlagSlam family since.
He represented the town at the 2008, 2009 and 2010 National Poetry Slams, and even remembers most of what happened.
His favorite pastimes are epic fantasy novels, video games, playing with blind dogs and discussing the intricate workings of the universe with his nemesis, Ryan Brown.

America's First, and Best, Slam Poem: A Poetical Analysis of Abraham Lincoln’s "Gettysburg Address"

2011-11-19T08:00:00.019-07:00

America's First, and Best, Slam Poem:

An Analysis of the Abraham Lincoln’s Poem "The Gettysburg Address"

Overview

President Abraham Lincoln wrote and delivered
the Gettysburg address on Nov. 19, 1863.

The Gettysburg Address was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Penn., on the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg.

What made the speech immediately notable was its brevity — 10 sentences and 271 words — Lincoln spoke for fewer than three minutes. Coincidentally, the Gettysburg Address could qualify as a slam poem.

The address is rich with allusions to the Bible and the Declaration of Independence and filled with poetic and rhetorical constructs so that it is more of a poem than a political speech. While the address contains a political aim, mainly that of preserving the Union, it served as a stirring and moving speech that could metaphorically speak for all the dead soldiers in the war.

The war served as a brutal purification, an inevitable struggle to rectify the major error made by the Founding Fathers: in a nation where all men are created equal, how can one man be another man’s slave?

For 87 years, slavery divided the nation politically until the civil war divided it militarily. The war purged the nation of this crime, allowing it to be reborn at Gettysburg.

Background

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee

The American Civil War began in 1861 with South Carolina rebellious forces firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. By 1863, the war was stumbling forward without many gains in the east, although Union forces in the west fared better.

After the Union announced an official blockade of Southern ports, foreign powers began to recognize the Confederacy as a "belligerent" in the Civil War, the British Empire on May 13, 1861, the Spanish Empire on June 17 and the ethnically Portuguese Dom Pedro II of the Empire of Brazil on Aug. 1.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia invaded Pennsylvania in 1863 to seize a major city, Harrisburg, or even Philadelphia to bring Lincoln and the North to the negotiating table. Had the gambit succeeded, politicians in Great Britain and France may have recognized the South as a sovereign power in North America rather than as a belligerent power or an internal rebellion.

However, Union Gen. Gordon Meade and his Army of the Potomac defeated Lee at the Battle Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863), which marked the turning point of the war and the beginning of the slow demise of Lee’s forces and the South with it.

Union Gen. George Gordon Meade

Although the war dragged on until 1865, the battle and Gen. George Pickett’s failed infantry charge on the third day of Gettysburg marked the psychological end of the Confederacy.

What made Lincoln’s speech culturally significant in terms of the war itself was that there were no specific mentions of the battle itself, nor its location, nor the commanders. The “generic” nature of the speech could honestly have been spoken over any battlefield at any time during the war without having to change a word.

The fact that the address was spoken after the most significant battle of the war — a fact no one at the time could have known until after the war’s conclusion — coincidentally adds to its political importance in American history.

The schedule of the day
The official schedule of events on that date included:
Music, by Birgfield’s Band
Prayer, by the Rev. T.H. Stockton
Music, by the United States Marine Corps Band
Oration, by Edward Everett (Former Massachusetts Whig party representative [1825-35] governor [1836-1840] secretary of state under president Millard Fillmore [1852-53], U.S. senator [1853-54], and educator). By many scholars at the time, Everett was considered the nation's greatest orator.
Music, Hymn composed by B.B. French
Dedicatory Remarks, by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
Dirge, sung by a choir selected for the occasion
Benediction, by Rev. H.L. Baugher, D.D

Edward Everett
In the 1850s and 1860s, American oratory was at its modern peak. Everett was invited to give the main speech at the dedication at the cemetery on Sept. 23, 1863. Everett reportedly told the organizing committee that he would be unable to prepare an appropriate speech in such a short period of time, and requested a postponement. The committee agreed and the dedication was postponed until Nov.19.

David Wills, the president of the committee, asked Lincoln to make a "few appropriate remarks," almost as an afterthought.

The 1860 presidential election was divisive. Everett ran as vice presidential candidate against Lincoln.

Republican Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois, ran with Hannibal Hamlin, taking 180 electoral votes, 18 states and 1,865,908 (39.8%) votes.

Lincoln defeated three other tickets: Northern Democratic candidate Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, running with Herschel Vespasian Johnson, with 12 electoral votes and 1,380,202 (29.5%) votes, the Southern Democratic candidate John C. Breckinridge, from Kentucky, running with Joseph Lane, who won 72 electoral votes, 11 states, and 848,019 (18.1%) voters; and the Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, of Tennessee, running with Edward Everett, who won 39 electoral votes, 12 states, 590,901 (12.6%) votes.

Still a Northerner, Everett was a political contemporary who carried as much weight as a political figure on the national scene as Lincoln did. His Constitutional Union Party had a simple platform based on compromise over slavery or its expansion into the territories, valuing union over potential succession if an anti-slavery ticket was elected.

Everett spoke for two hours. Contemporary reports praised his oration, which was peppered with classical references and interrupted by applause.

Lincoln's two-minute follow-up speech, however, become one of the most famous speeches in the history of the United States.

Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union of the American states, but as “a new birth of freedom” that would bring true equality.

Everett’s speech was the day’s planned “Gettysburg address.” His 13,607-word oration began:

Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the mighty Alleghenies dimly towering before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and Nature. But the duty to which you have called me must be performed; — grant me, I pray you, your indulgence and your sympathy.

And ended with:

But they, I am sure, will join us in saying, as we bid farewell to the dust of these martyr-heroes, that wheresoever throughout the civilized world the accounts of this great warfare are read, and down to the latest period of recorded time, in the glorious annals of our common country, there will be no brighter page than that which relates the Battles of Gettysburg.

Although deemed brilliant by those in the crowd and contemporary journalists, Everett’s speech is now rarely read in favor by Lincoln’s shorter and more poetic speech.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Thematic analysis
Lincoln employed many rhetorical devices in his artistry with words, but his mature speeches are especially characterized by:
· grammatical parallelism
· antithesis
· alliteration
· repetition
He would use all four strategies in his Nov. 19 address.
Notably, the voice in the Gettysburg Address is not a first-person singular individual. The address is full of first-person references, but everyone is plural. Ten times Lincoln uses the plural “we,” and three times “us.” The “speaker” is, in effect, Americans and Unionists, not the president.

Without naming the South or the Confederates, the speech makes no reference of the rebels as enemies. Their dead are not omitted from the speech, as though Southerns could look back after the abolition of slavery on the Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil War and the address as a dedication to their dead as well, the cost in blood had to be paid to remake a free nation.

The sheer coincidence of the battle's cost — estimated at just over 23,000 on each side — seemingly suggests both sides paid almost equally, rather than a rout like Fredericksburg the first and second battles of Bull Run, or the bloodbaths Union Gen. Ulysses S Grant would use to win battles of attrition toward the end of the war.

First Paragraph
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Sets time and place to establish the scene and directly references the Declaration of Independence, considered a sacred document to both the Unionists of the North and Secessionists of the South. Confederates referred to the Civil War as the second war of independence.

“Four score and seven” was not a simple way to say 87. Lincoln was asking his audience to calculate backward to discover that the nation’s starting point was not the Constitution in 1787 nor the election of Gen. George Washington in 1789 as the first president, but the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and its sine qua non declaration of equality:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The main overt reference is the “all men are created equal” line in both.

Scores, i.e., 20 years, are also a shorthand way of measuring generations. While stating 87 years would have been felt an a long time to people whose life expectancy was an average of around 60 years, Lincoln’s reference shows that only a short time in human terms had passed; assuming that most people in the 1860s became parents in their late teens or early 20s, a 40-year-old listener or reader could have a grandparent who lived at the time of the county’s birth, a relatively short time, in which to create a new nation based on a social experiment in liberty and equality. The shortness of time also pointed to the fragility of the nation.

Poetically, the cadence began with two rhyming words: “four score.” The line also contains a rhythm of alliteration, “fathers … forth” and “new nation.”

The Hebrew cadence, rendered in Elizabethan English, would have been stated slowly: “Four . . . score.” The biblical ring of his opening words was rooted in Psalm 90: "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years."

Lincoln never named verse or quoted directly from the Bible in his speeches, although he did do so in his Second Inaugural Address, when his speech included allusions to Matthew 18:7, Luke 17:1 and Psalm 19:9. Lincoln’s whole address was suffused with both biblical content and cadence.

Lincoln built the Gettysburg Address upon a structure of past, present, and future. The three parts of the speech, broken into their composite parts, relate a brief summation of history, a reflection on the current struggle and how the choices of the present dictate the future course.

Thematically, Lincoln started in the past by placing the battlefield at Gettysburg and the “insignificance” of the dedication in the context of American history. His opening words highlighted historical continuity. His biblical allusion accented permanence — keep in mind that the Bible was a not merely seen as an unassailable document, but the wisdom of God and God’s chosen people passed on to believers, a concept most Americans accepted without question — while noting that the continuity of the United States had surpassed the biblical time frame of life and death, in turn making the United States and its constitution a sacred document ordained by God as part of a divine plan for both Americans specifically and humanity in general.

In speaking of “our fathers,” Lincoln invoked the common heritage of the Founding Fathers for both Northerners and Southerners. At the same time identified himself, not with the “leaders of the American people,” but with his audience as children of their great experiment.
The trajectory of the crucial, first sentence underscored the timeless American truth that “all men are created equal,” which, although had been controversial among the landed leaders of the republic in 1776, had been accepted as common fact by the 1860s.

Whether a man — women and blacks still had no voting rights in most electorates — owned thousands of acres or merely worked a farm as a hired hand, in the American social landscape, they were equal both before the law as they were before God. All white men had been given the right to vote regardless of property ownership beginning in 1820 and by 1850, this right was almost universal. Free blacks in the North also had sufferage. When Lincoln reaffirmed this truth he asserted that the war was about both liberty and union.

Lincoln began by invoking the Declaration of Independence, but his use of the word “proposition” — theory — spoke to a different certainty than Thomas Jefferson’s “truths,” which were “self-evident.” Through the address, Lincoln emphasized at Gettysburg that the United States was not a completed entity at the time of the Declaration, but still an experiment still in process. He implied through “proposition” that Jefferson’s language had to be proved as fact through the country’s minor and major struggles. The Civil War and Gettysburg specifically were tests of that proposition, tests which had to be overcome to prove them as true as Jefferson had “theorized” with the Declaration. Because of the war, Lincoln had understood the fragility of the Union and sought to expose them through the architecture of his speech.

“Proposition” was the turning point of the speech wherein Lincoln shifted his from past ideas to present realities.

Second paragraph
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

The first line of the second paragraph establishes the moment of the speech in its precise political context. At the beginning of the body of his address he used two perfect parallels: “that nation so conceived” and “any nation so dedicated.”

Lincoln directly references the aforementioned “proposition” as being tested by “a great civil war.” Its success or failure, i.e., reunification or division after the war, will prove or disprove Jefferson's proposal.

As Lincoln spoke about the dimensions of the past, he constructed the content of his political purposes by repeating key words: “great civil war,” “great battlefield,” “so dedicated,” and “come to dedicate.” Lincoln’s use of repetition allowed him to underscore his rhetorical purpose.

We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.

The funerary oration has longstanding tradition. Funerary orations date back to ancient Greece, one of the best known is Pericles’ Funeral Oration spoken in 410 B.C.E. during the Peloponnesian War and recorded in Thucydides’ (460-395 B.C.E.) “History of the Peloponnesian War.

Pericles's speech acknowledges Athens’ predecessors: "I shall begin with our ancestors: it is both just and proper that they should have the honor of the first mention on an occasion like the present"; then praises Athens’ commitment to democracy: "If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences"; honors the dead and their sacrifices, "Thus choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting, they fled only from dishonor, but met danger face to face"; and turns to the living to continue the struggle: "You, their survivors, must determine to have as unfaltering a resolution in the field, though you may pray that it may have a happier issue."

Later accounts of Lincoln’s life strongly suggest that he had not read that part of Thucydides’ history. Battlefield dedications have been visited by leaders throughout history. Lincoln's statement that he, as the nation’s leader, should perform this duty was more of an accepted fact among the political leaders of the time. The unusual nature of this specific dedication was that it was happening during active wartime and the battle had happened so recently.
Another point was that Everett, as a classicist, not Lincoln, would have been more likely to impart Pericles’ sentiments. Lincoln’s references lean toward Biblical ones, as his speeches often drew on scripture for allusions.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

The line establishes the justification for the audience to be at the event, while the following sentence immediately contradicts the importance by shifting the emphasis on the dead.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground.

His words, “But in a larger sense,” were his clue to the audience that he was about to expand the parameters of his intentions. He was announcing his purpose to speak to a “larger” subject.

Stating the negative “but” served to first prepare the audience to agree with his evocation of what each person in the audience could do, both following the speech, in the larger scope of the war, and in the larger sense of America’s history years and decades after the war became just a memory. These three parallel clauses focused on the present space: “this ground.”

The importance of “hallow”

"... We can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow ..."

What is most notable in a poetic sense is the use of two Latinate root words, — “consecrate” and “dedicate” — contained in parallel with a distinctly English root, “hallow.”

Most native English speakers invariably attribute more weight to words with inherent “Englishness” to them, be they original words, imported word with an “English sound” or more recent portmanteaus. The structure of the English language was slowly re-ordered and restructured after the Norman invasion of 1066 by using a Latinate languages, specifically French, but the lexicon of English remained based with the roots of Old English.

As a linguistic aside, for instance, veal, beef, venison and poultry are the common names for prepared dishes, names imported from the Norman French, whose French-speaking lords dined on meat from animals tended to by Old English-speaking farmers who used the words calves, cows, deer, ducks, chickens and turkeys. Playwrights and poets, such William Shakespeare and his contemporaries, often used this fact to make characters seem “lower” on the social strata by having them speak more “English” words while kings and nobles spoke with more Latinate-root words.

Lincoln used this linguistic abnormality as a parallel. While “consecrate” and “dedicate” are synonyms, “hallow” carries more weight because it is more “English” and more “emotionally sincere” for the mood. The structure of the sentence itself subtly suggests that Lincoln is perhaps searching for the “right” word for the moment. “Consecrate” and “dedicate” are not sufficient, but as he hits on the third word, it seems as though he has found the exact word for the moment, one that “consecrate” and “dedicate” are too formal, too lofty, too unemotional to properly express the emotional mood. It also seems as though Lincoln is actively thinking of synonyms to properly express his emotional connection to his duty, a scratching out “consecrate” and “dedicate” before committing to “hallow.”

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

Note that the audience of the speech is at the event to consecrate the battlefield, but trivialized by the actions of those who died on the field. Coincidentally, this is also the theme of Pericles’ funeral oration, which draws the comparison.

At this point, Lincoln employed a dramatic antithesis. He contrasted “the brave men” with “our poor power.” He simultaneously framed “living and dead” at the beginning of the sentence, and “add or detract” at the end of the sentence, in another parallelism.

The Final Paragraph
In the last three sentences of the address, Lincoln shifted the focus a final time. In the architecture of his address, Lincoln had recalled the past and what the nation did at its beginning, recited what the soldiers did in the near present, and now prepared to open out the future and speak to the responsibility of the listeners.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

The line trivializes his own importance while again adding to the emphasis of the dead.
Lincoln pointed away from words to deeds. He contrasts “what we say here” with “what they did here” in another antithesis. Lincoln also speaks in the plural, which places his identity among the audience, not as the leaders of the nation or speakers at the event.

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here ...."
The irony is that Gettysburg Address is engraved in stone on the
south wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Of course the irony is that Gettysburg Address is engraved in stone on the south wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

The initial words of the sentence achieved energy from contrasts: “It is for us the living,” contrasted with “those who gave their lives here”; “the unfinished work which they who fought here,” was an invitation to finish the work.

The line continues to empowers the audience to take inspiration from the deeds of the dead and continue the struggle for union.
Although the “work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced,” Lincoln’s subtle point is that the dead gave all they had but can go no further. The emphasis shifts from what they did to the audience to continue to struggle with all they have — that is the true way, Lincoln argues, to honor their sacrifice, not simply in winning the war, but in rebuilding the nation in the Declaration of Independence's proposed vision afterward.

Last line
Lincoln’s closing sentience, in a speech ironically known for its brevity, is a long, complex sentence of 82 words.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion —

This part of the sentence emphasizes the passion of the dead to have fought and died for a mere cause. Lincoln continued repetition: “to be dedicated we take increased devotion,” and “to be here dedicated the last full measure of devotion.” His repetition rhetorically reiterated the accountability of the audience.

“Dedicate” and “devotion” are both religious words which conjured the call to commitment in the revival services of the Second Great Awakening and in the churches Lincoln attended in Washington during the war.

“The last full measure of devotion” is far more poetic than simply “death,”as it immediately, eloquently and metaphorically postulates that the dead died for a purpose, struggling toward a goal which they failed to reach but which we must continue to pursue. Lincoln seems to suggest that the died knew their purpose was not to take a hill or prevent a charge, but to reunite the nation and remake the country as it should have been, almost as though the soldiers had heard the Gettysburg Address before the battle and knew the costs they would have to pay.

that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom —

Note the use of “in vain” which in the context of “under God” has Biblical implications. The line “under God” is only found in three of the five original manuscripts, but in neither of the two first drafts. Lincoln most likely used the second draft at the speech itself. The other three manuscripts were written later at the request of contemporary historians and “under God” may have been added even though it was not spoken at Gettysburg.

Regardless of the reference, poetically, “under God” continues the theme of past and future.
Lincoln felt the United States and its special place as the birth of democracy had both religious and political parents. He consistently invoked God in most of his major speeches as president.

“Under God” also aims at the future in “shall have a new birth of freedom.” Without the twin guidance of God and the liberty and unity of the nation, Lincoln argues that freedom isn’t possible. In the first years of the Civil War, Lincoln found himself wrestling in new ways with the purposes of God in history. The death of so many soldiers brought him face to face with the meaning of life.

“A new birth of freedom” was layered with political and religious definitions.

The metaphor first contrasts with the old. The “new birth” which emerged in the context of the war and Lincoln’s leadership meant at Gettysburg he was no longer defending an old Union, like he did in his First Inaugural Address in 1861, but proclaiming a new Union. The old Union tried to deal with the hypocrisy of slavery and the ideal that “all men are created equal” by ignoring slavery in the interest of national unity and survival. Now with the country at war, maintaining that duality was politically pointless and metaphorically dead as it hadn’t keep the country together peacefully, but driven it to civil war. Lincoln was declaring that the new Union would fulfill the Jefferson’s promise of liberty for all, the crucial step the founders were too afraid to take in 1776.

The “new birth” in Christianity and evangelical movements was a spiritual birth made by the choice of the believer. In essence, through the horrors of war the United States is “born again” as it should have been. In this context, the cost to make an America a nation of liberty and equality was paid at Gettysburg in 1863 not Lexington and Concord in 1776 nor at Yorktown in 1781.

The “new birth” was a paradox in both politics and religion. Lincoln and scholars since had come to see the Civil War as a ritual of purification. The old Union had to die just as the old man had to die. In death there was preparation for a new Union and a new humanity.

and that government
of the people,
by the people,
for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people,” is a perfectly parallel structure that essentially sums up the American democracy in 10 words. These 10 words have been used by Americans and American politicians ever since as the justification for the United States’ existence and the moral rightness in its cause — the inherent "rightness" of representative democracy.

It also forms an if-then summary conclusion for the entire address: If we honor the dead here by fighting to preserve the union at all costs, like they did, and if we ensure liberty for all, our experiment — then democracy — will be born again — in the way it should have been, without slavery — and never die.

While it inspires certain inevitability in victory and immortality in the United States as a nation, the use of a negative in the last line demonstrates the threat of annihilation if they fail. Lincoln was putting fate of the war in his listeners’ hands. They weren’t putting down a small rebellion that could have been won or lost with little consequence — they were fighting for their very survival. The grand experiment of representative democracy, universal liberty and the nation’s existence were on the line.

In peacetime, Lincoln could said “will live forever,” or “flourish for all time,” but the struggle of the Civil War put the importance on victory. If the Union failed to defeat the Confederacy, the United States could have Balkanized and broken up over time, so the use of “shall not perish” implied that the nation was potentially on its deathbed.

Lincoln’s opposition to slavery was not overtly stated in the address. In his 1860 presidential campaign, he was willing to accept slavery for the sake of union. However, as the Civil War became less of a issue of a state’s right to secede and more about liberty and freedom of all the country’s citizens, Lincoln turned his attention toward emancipation, in as much as its morality as its ability to hurt a rebellious South. In 1862, after the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect in January 1863.
In turning the war against an political contention and into a issue of morality, he galvanized the North and drummed up support for the effort on moral grounds, even as the war was stalled.

Although the wording of “Government of the people, by the people, for the people,” was Lincoln’s, the sentiment was not.

Lincoln’s law partner William Herndon had given him sermons of abolitionist minister Theodore Parker, who had written in “The Effect of Slavery on the American People:” “Democracy is direct self-government, over all the people, for all the people, by all the people,” a line which Parker later wrote Lincoln had especially liked. Lincoln pared the wording down to its constituent words into a more succinct and poetic rendition.

In the immediate aftermath of the speech, Lincoln was uncertain about how it was received. He reportedly turned to another person on the platform and commented, in effect, that the speech fell on its face. Journalists were mixed, some complaining the the speech was too short, so short they had thought the address was only an opening remark before a larger and more political speech. Other journalists commented on its poetry, eloquence and brilliance. The address has become one of the best known, most repeated, and beloved speeches in American history, so the latter group eventually won out.

As proof, Everett, the great orator, wrote a note to Lincoln the next day: "I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion in two hours, as you did in two minutes."

Through the address, Lincoln created the idea of a unified nation in which states’ rights were subject to the rights of the nation as a whole. The issue of states' rights valued over national common good had were a determent to military capacity in the war.

The South, which placed the value of individual states over the central government of the Confederacy stayed true to this cause and often refused to allow their brigades and regiments to be commanded by colonels and generals from other states, which contributed to inefficiency in movement and on the battlefield, and the occasional military blunder.

The North, which valued union over all, didn't suffer from this single-mindedness. The North's blunders were due to the general incompetence of some of it's leaders alone.

After the war ended, the idea of national unity expressed in the address also contributed to a dramatic shift from provincial to national political identity.

No longer would citizens refer to themselves as a "Virginian in America" or a "New Yorker in America" but "an American from Virginia" or "an American from New York." Before the American Civil War and the Gettysburg Address, we were A united states of America, but afterward, we were The United States of America.

"Wake Up Call" by Dre Johnson and Patrick Ohslund

2011-11-17T17:00:00.002-07:00

"Wake Up Call"

Co-written by Jackhammer Serenade, the spoken word duet composed of Dre "Duke Bossman" Johnson and Patrick Ohslund

When the student is asked for his homework,
he laughs like I must be joking.
This school is in East Palo Alto
but this substitute teacher has seen these walls
before in Oakland, Detroit,
anywhere else forgotten about by real estate booms.

The student laughs because
he sees desperation leaking out of walls
built in the seventies lit by dim blinking fluorescence.
He laughs because his eyes are open,
This young boy is no fool
He knows that this desperation
is a learned behavior.

His spine cheers with a shiver
that causes a sun to rise that only he can see.
His personal path of illumination
rises from his rib cage like a hot air balloon,
Fueled by words a teacher told him,
"your mind is a tool
sharpen it on books like they were wet stones,
to cut chords and hover above
desperate patterns to think for yourself."

This student is awake, won't sit down,
shut up, or listen blankly anymore.
But we are seeding our youth
With vines designed to choke out life,

Cafeterias in prison and school train gut as mind to
turn off and swallow the blandness
provided by Sysco Systems.
Blueprints for school buildings
fall from the same architects that churn out prisons.

Both structures clenched around the necks of their inhabitants
Strangling enthusiasm that would grow outside the bricks
Lining student prisoners in cell or desk
accustomed to jumping at the sound of a bell
Off to the next detention center.

IT IS TIME FOR A WAKE UP CALL!
But we are seeding our youth
with vines designed to choke out life.
And are surprised that babies drop out
of teenagers as teenagers drop out of high school.

Surprised at students with numb noses and punctured veins
to punctuate the "I don’t give a fuck" attitude
that drains into classrooms from
Governator’s budget cuts.
Trimming a little future out of our lives.

Education being cut down to the cold efficiency of
a mechanized factory has been an American theme since the days of
Francis Bellamy winding up a sales pitch
In the form of the flag salute, a wholesale
conditioning of government school kids.

American school children performing the original "Bellamy salute"
during the Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag

In 1888 Francis Bellamy worked both as a producer and salesman of American flags.

To the United States of America

He was obsessed with the efficiency of military and wanted school along with everything else to mirror this cold precision.

And to the republic for which it stands

His mission was to use the flag salute to ingrain blind obedience into students.

One nation, under god

In 1888 there was one slight difference in the flag salute,

With liberty and justice for all

students arms were raised to honor the republic, straight from the shoulder.

Francis Bellamy,
the programmed pirate infamous flag dealer
left his mark like the lynch letter,
slangin' the image of the red white and confused.

Francis Bellamy,
sold nationalism to government schools
to create armies of industrial militant minded
Pavlov's lap dogs instead of what should be students.
who are force fed falsified information
while they sit entranced,
It is time for a wake up call.

Instead of a pledge to empire
how about a pledge to what moves us
Freedom from history books bound by chapters
That speak only of Eurocentric beginnings.

I pledge Allegiance to the light of knowledge
So that it may bounce off people like they were mirrors
transforming any classroom into this one.

One to create a new political slam poem is to examine the background behind a political action or activity, in this case the commercial and political history of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Bellamy salute was, and in some places still is, the way students were instructed to salute the flag beginning in 1892.

The pledge became compulsory for students in 1940 after Minersville School District v. Gobitis, opposed by Jehovah's Witnesses. That ruling was overturned in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette in 1943, citing issues of free speech under the First Amendment.

The Bellamy salute was later used by the German Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or Nazi party, and fell out of favor during World War II, although it is still commonly used in the United States.

From "Face the Flag: The surprising history of the Pledge of Allegiance":

Francis Bellamy
The Pledge’s genesis had a strong commercial component of its own. [Francis] Bellamy worked for a magazine, Youth’s Companion, that had boosted its circulation by offering American flags as premiums to schoolchildren peddling subscriptions. One hundred sales equaled one flag, and over the course  of a few years, the magazine’s Flag Over the Schoolhouse Program put the Old Glory in tens of thousands of public schools around the country.
To expand on such efforts, Bellamy’s boss in the Premiums Department at Youth’s Companion, James B. Upham, concocted the idea of partnering with the World’s Columbian Exposition, a.k.a. the Chicago World’s Fair, to promote a nationwide celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day (which wasn’t yet an official national holiday). The proposed ceremonies would take place in schoolrooms and feature lots of flags. It would honor the spirit of enlightenment and progress Columbus embodied, and acknowledge the public school system as an uplifting, democratizing force in American life. “Our public school system is what makes this Nation superior to all other Nations—not the Army or the Navy system,” Congressman Sherman Hoar (D-Mass.) insisted when discussing the coming celebration with Bellamy. “Military display…does not belong here.”
To lend gravitas to the occasion, Bellamy felt a more dignified salute to the flag than those that already existed at the time was in order. As The Pledge recounts, Bellamy penned the Pledge “at a time when anxieties over the impact of mass immigration coexisted with expansive optimism about the nation’s future.” The entire Columbus Day celebration was calculated, as Theodore Roosevelt approvingly observed, to inculcate a “fervent loyalty to the flag,” and Bellamy himself viewed his Pledge as an “inoculation” that would protect immigrants and native-born but insufficiently patriotic Americans from the “virus” of radicalism and subversion. A few years after writing the Pledge, The Pledge recounts, Bellamy would eventually write a less inspiring ode to indivisibility: “A democracy like ours cannot afford to throw itself open to the world where every man is a lawmaker, every dull-witted or fanatical immigrant admitted to our citizenship is a bane to the commonwealth; where all classes of society merge insensibly into one another.”

Dre Johnson, right, and Patrick Ohslund

Dre Johnson and Patrick Ohslund are the co-founders of the 501(c)(3) non profit, Voice of a Generation presents: Digital Storytellers.

This organization serves to provide spoken word workshops, hands on education in the production of poetry based documentary films and to forge connections between students and Community-Based Organizations.

Voice of a Generation Presents:

The Digital Storytelling Project

Our mission is to engage a new generation of informed, skilled and creative leaders capable of harnessing the power of media to preserve their community’s voice, share heritage and culture through the development of spoken word based documentaries.


Dre "Duke Bossman" Johnson, longtime Oakland, Calif., poet. Photo by Big Poppa E.

This is a call for financial support to provide in-class spoken word workshops and hands on education for the production of digital documentaries at Sky Line Public High School in Oakland, Calif. The end results will be youth poetry and film projects used in the media of community based organizations, a culminating spoken word performance and satisfaction of senior project graduation requirements.

Digital Storytellers has 501(c)(3) nonprofit status through fiscal sponsorship by the Community Life Network. Donations are tax-deductible. We currently have a philanthropic organization providing a 50% match of funds, you can contribute through our Kick Starter fundraising campaign.
In this campaign we will secure funding to run a customized pilot program at Sky Line Public High School. Our goal is to reach $8,000.

These funds will pay for workshop facilitators, grant writers, film and editing equipment, as well as our quarterly performance.
For more information check out our website: Digitalstorytellers.org

Digital Storytellers is a participatory media program that trains young people to become fluent in the arts of spoken word poetry and digital documentation. Through these art forms youth improve their ability to articulate thus creating personally empowered voices that are infused into digital media thereby creating a means to engage in public dialog. We are building a reputation as innovators of service-learning and media technology education by facilitating in-class writing workshops where we also provide hands on instruction in the production of community strengthening and poetry themed documentary films.
Our goals are to produce demonstrable results in the following capacities:
    * Youth written spoken word poems
    * Student produced spoken word based documentaries
    * Inclusion of youth poetry and film within the literature and media of
      community based organizations
    * Students becoming involved with CBO's
    * Satisfaction of community service and senior project High School graduation requirements through student interview, documentation and involvement with CBO's
    * Increased abilities of articulation
    * A quarterly Multi-Generational Spoken Word Showcase where students and
      professional performers will share the stage with leaders of CBO's

For more information, contact Patrick Ohslund, Workshop Coordinator, at patrick@digitalstorytellers.org, (949) 285-9086.

New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar features at Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3

2011-11-13T17:49:00.006-07:00

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Dec. 3, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize.

The slam will the first of the 2011-12 season, expected to be more moving, more energetic and more intense because this year, poets will be competing for a slot in Sedona’s first National Poetry Slam Team.

After four years of collaborating with the Flagstaff and Phoenix metro area poetry slam scenes, the Sedona scene has developed the reputation and strength to muster its own team to send to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., in August. The eventual four-poet team will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Dec. 3,
starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar.

Jahnilli Akbar

Photo by Harley Deuce

The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox
Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff
team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

What is Poetry Slam?

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #20 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #19 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T19:30:00.002-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #18 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #17 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #16 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #15 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T17:30:00.005-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #14 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T17:00:00.001-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #13 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #12 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T16:00:00.001-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #11 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #10 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T15:00:00.006-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #9 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #8 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T14:00:00.003-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #7 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T13:30:00.001-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #6 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T13:00:00.002-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #5 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T12:30:00.002-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #4 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T12:00:00.001-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Performing a line from the poem "We Call Him Papa," about my grandfather Frank Buster Redfield. The line captured here is "he carved and crafted rifles / like Stradivarius made violins / and the first recoil / was a symphony / compressed to a split second."

We Call Him Papa

For my grandfather, Frank 'Buster' Redfield

May 14, 1925 - 11 a.m. Oct. 31, 2004

we call him Papa
and he could move mountains with his silence

he fathered a family of artists
who all spoke a different language
who knew the value of labor
the efficiency of expression
if it is unclear, rephrase it
if it is unusable, remove it
if it is imperfect, rework it
until it is as much a part of you
as a limb
he never said this
but through his life, he taught us

his stone eyes
edited lies from our speech
before we could speak them
his hands held me tight once
after I sinned
they held me soft
when my father translated himself
into a mythology
I've since ceased believing in
his hands were the tools
with which he spoke through his silence

he carved and crafted rifles
like Stradivarius made violins
and the first recoil
was a symphony
compressed to a split second
he brought wood to life
as though generations of forests grew
to make the right grain
the right feel worthy of his talent

he did not build airplanes,
he built aircraft with the precision of a heart surgeon
knowing a loose screw, one misaligned wire
could transform a craft of beauty
into a coffin
and wife like his into a widow
he made no widows
except his own

he crafted art that soared like mechanical angels
and made us feel
how he must have felt with Grandma

even in his absence he scares me
because he was so much more
of what a man should be
than the men I see around me
than the man who fathered me

he was sometimes the machine moving me
he was sometimes the monster under my bed
keeping me from going gently into the night
without fighting the darkness
he was sometimes a giant
stretching hands from horizon to horizon
holding down the sun and moon
and dictating their rising

I am convinced that eastern Montana
is so perfectly flat
in fear of him

we call him Papa
and he could move mountains with his silence

I never heard him say he loved her
not in words
not in a way I could steal
not in a way that the cheap poet in me
could have plagiarized into a stanza
for some mediocre poem unworthy of his memory

I never heard him say he loved her with words
he said it with his eyes
he said it in the stories my mother would tell me
about how he would raise armies and wage wars
just to bring her flowers
he said it with the way he told me
about driving across Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania every weekend
just to see her for two hours between college classes and curfews
he said it by playing "Waltzing Matilda" on a harmonica
as he was dying
like he was asking her to dance again
for the very first time

he said he loved her
by showing us how good man
should love a woman right

we call him Papa
and he could move mountains with his silence

he is the poet
me, his eldest grandchild,
I am just his microphone

Frank Leslie “Buster” Redfield, age 79, passed away from natural causes on Sunday - October 31, 2004 at the Odyssey Hospice Medical Center in Chandler, Arizona. Services are planned for Friday – November 12, 2004 at 2:00 P.M. at the United Methodist Church in Opheim, Montana. Memorial services were held November 8 in Chandler, AZ. Funeral services will be November 12 at 2 pm at the United Methodist Church in Opheim with burial on the family farm. Bell Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Pallbearers are his grandsons Logan, Cole and Chase Redfield, Jeremy and Ryan Thievin, and Zachary Cherry. Honorary pallbearers are Lanny Hanson, Tom Hanson, Larry French, Lowell Hallock, C.D. Markle, and his sons-in-laws Bill Elliott, Hank Sheer, Al Cherry, and Marty Thievin. Memorials may be made to the Opheim United Methodist Church or the Opheim High School Library. He was preceded in death by his parents and one grandson, Lane Redfield.
Frank Leslie (Buster) Redfield, Jr., 79, died October 31 in Chandler, AZ. He was born May 14, 1925 in Glasgow, MT to Mary and Frank Redfield, Sr. and attended school in Glasgow and Opheim. He served in the Navy on the USS Princeton and in the Army during World War II. He married Sylvia Slife on Dec. 6, 1947 in Atlanta, GA. They lived in Montana during 1948 and 1949 where their first child was born and then moved back to Georgia where he served on the Atlanta police force from 1951 until 1956 when they returned to Montana to farm with his father. He loved motorcycles and airplanes and was a spray pilot for many years. Since 1989 Frank and Sylvia have spent winters in Chandler, AZ and summers at home on the farm near Opheim. He was a member of the Opheim Methodist Church, the American Legion, the Masons, the Shriners, and the York Rite Bodies.
Survivors include his wife, Sylvia; three sons, Alan (Laurie) of Pray, MT, Les (Lisa) and Myron (Alice) of Opheim; four daughters, Georgia Sheer (Hank) of Louisville, KY, Lynn Cherry (AI) of Fayettville, NC, Sylvia Elliott (Bill) of Chandler, AZ, and Lisa Thievin (Marty) of Richland; 17 grandchildren, Erin Sheer, Jason and Zachary Cherry, Katie and Jodie Redfield, Chase, Tatum, and Haylee Redfield, Christopher Fox and Nicholas Graham, Jessica, Danielle, and Kristina Elliott, Logan and Cole Redfield, and Jeremy and Ryan Thievin; one sister, Dorothy Fossum of Richland, and many nieces and nephews.

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #3 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T11:30:00.001-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #2 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T11:00:00.001-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #1 by Harley Deuce

2011-11-05T10:30:00.010-07:00

Photo by Harley Deuce

I just got my photos back from my photo shoot earlier this year with professional photographer and sweetheart Harley Deuce. I'll be posting some of my favorites here.

Sedona Poetry Slam - 2012 season

2011-10-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Scars Open Letter to Hollywood from Heath Ledger," by Marshall Soulful Jones

2011-10-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

"Scars:
Open Letter to Hollywood from Heath Ledger"

Written and performed by Marshall "Soulful" Jones

Produced by: Hans Zimmer

Re-imagined by: Fiya Divine

If you're here
He's not
I'm not
And I'm sure you'd like to know why we're not Ill tell you ....
He loved her
And she's not here right now because of you

....Fame is a disease
We all got it We're all sharing needles with it If you're not careful

You will die before you die

I mean, look at us
NO!
NO!
Silly!
Put the suicide note down
AND LOOK AT US

Look at all the bottles on the floor
Half of these things I cant even pronounce
But
Did you notice "Xanax" reads the same forward and backward?
No?
I thought it was funny
Anyway
Apparently my apartment on Broome Street
Did not sweep enough under the rug
So now you see what you've done
Now you know how I got these scars
See, the camera keeps rolling
Like a wheel
Turning your insides
You can't have a normal life
Without a production team
With a search warrant for your bad day
How many tabloids do you think it took to ruin him, hmm?
How many gossip sites did it take?
How many lines of cocaine do you think we need to forget
That everyday we're getting farther and farther away
FROM EVERYTHING We love
Oh you thought he was acting?
Oh You think I'm not real
Oh I'm real
REEL TO REEL
And when you 're sick with fame like him
You need people like me to keep you laughing
So when the lady left with everything
I said "Why So Serious?"
Just take two Ambien
Those are good for the nightmares
Take one of these
Two of those
A whole fuckload of these

I kept the bathroom cabinets jokes coming

Because Painkillers can shove your mistakes off a balcony
And you can still smile about it
You think you know him

You don't

I was there
I was there to tell him that if were gonna go anywhere
We were gonna go out with a bang!
So WHY SO SERIOUS!?!

Marshall "Soulful" Jones

Marshall "Soulful" Jones cannot be stopped. Do not be deceived by the sultry name this poet brings pure power to the mic. His style, a fusion of raw hip-hop tenacity neo-soul vocal mastery and an excellent command of the English language. With an overflowing imagination and an arsenal of talents Soulful has a wellspring of ideas matched only by his seemingly unlimited versatility and creativity. With many voices Soulful speaks to the laymen, the scholar, the feeler and the thinker. He sees no boundaries nor limitations accepting neither label nor branding. He is always one step ahead of himself approaching poetry from new and exciting angles leaving no topic safe from his pen.

Be it the humor of today's technology, the vulnerability of true manhood or the somber conditions of African-American life Soulful desires to touch everyone.Whether slamming or simply sharing, his drive and passion for the art are apparent in his delivery and his presence.

Bio from Words With a Pulse.

Worst time to busk ... or newest Jaguar Paw song?

2011-10-16T08:21:00.001-07:00

This Libyan scene apparently picked the worst time and place to busk ... or is recording a new Jaguar Paw song in the midst of a street battle involving heavy, high-caliber weapons fire and a touching acoustic guitar.

Jaguar Paw is a Sedona Dada punk band. The song will likely be on the forthcoming album.

Veteran Haiku

2011-10-06T08:00:00.001-07:00

Decades after war

Old man still wears his medals

Like I will your name

"A Constellation of Scars" by Christopher Fox Graham

2011-10-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

"A Constellation of Scars"

By Christopher Fox Graham

only long-term lovers take the time
to ponder the origins of marks on skin

the first thing I notice are her scars:
she's a wandering tomboy
with more cuts and scrapes
than a hardbody Buick in an action film
but she's never been broken

I chart them as she sleeps so I can write poems later
these fingertips can still recall them
the way surgeons never have nightmares
about patients they save
but they’re haunted by the faces they lost

she says she wears her scars like a constellation

I chart them like Galileo
trying to map her ancestry
circumnavigating her body as if Magellan
hired me as helmsman
and only I can get us safely home

every scar has a story
the way men who ink themselves
on every square inch
from big toe to eyebrow
can name the tattoo artist
and heartbreak behind each symbol

if she let you close enough to nap with an ear on her chest
you could hear the heartbreaking discord
as her mother's violin and father's oboe
played so selfishly
they forgot they had a daughter in the orchestra
trying to make peace between the melodies
that hadn't played the same song in decades

but open wounds grow a thicker skin
and 24 years of a bleeding heart
made her impregnable
the manufacturers of castles,
SWAT team body armor
and 747 black boxes
are negotiation to duplicate her skin as a prototype

but she only answers e-mails from war orphans
and young widowers who bury their first loves
because only they understand
what she teaches:
how to survive after the world ends
and do it with a smile
and the belief that everything is still beautiful

whatever doesn't kill you becomes a cliché
and every time some failed love
broke her in half
her heart phoenixed and doubled in size
so by the time she climbed into my arms
I could climb inside her chest
as if she made herself into a hammock
by taking all the times she whispered “I love you” to a stranger
but never heard back
wove them together
so that when she met a lover
who wanted to study the stories of her scars
he would have a place to sleep between shifts

I studied her scars like a crime scene
trying to figure out which cuts were misdemeanors
and which were alibis for felonies

until I came across the last one
on which she had written in invisible ink,
that only glowed when I kissed her
drunk with love
“there is no mystery to solve, boy,
I just wanted someone to come this far”

by then I learned her scars so well
that if they sang musical notes
I could play her like a symphony in the dark
the strings of her arms hummed work songs
learned alongside peasants in El Salvador
the percussion of her feet
beat bass rhythms of the wandering road
snare-drumming stories to mark the miles
between hitchhiking pickup spots
the brass of her legs intoned harmonies with strangers
like she was rearranging the stars
as if Rigel, Mintaka and the Horsehead Nebula
separated by thousands of light years
had any clue we call them Orion
and that in the bed of a pickup truck
in an empty parking lot
she and I use that unexpected relationship
between irrelevant clumps of hydrogen
to ignore the sheer absurdity
of how strangers become lovers
to kiss for the first time

“you see,” she says
“why I wear these scars like a constellation”
shooting stars scar the face of Sagittarius
or cut Hercules in half
but once they fall to Earth
it's as if they never happened
and no matter how many broken satellites
may scar the sky in your brief lifetime
we are just the dust of stars
condensed into living stories
the burning suns that make up these limbs
have been on fire for eons

shooting stars only last a second
but you can wish on these scars
until we swirl together as stardust
and burn bright as sun

2011-09-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

2010 Southwest Shootout Poetry Slam

Group piece recorded live at The Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff on June 12, 2010, The poets are, from left, Christian Drake, Damien Flores, Joe Romero and Jessica Helen Lopez

"They Held Hands" at GumptionFest VI Poetry Open Mic

2011-09-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Christopher Fox Graham performs the poem "They Held Hands" at the GumptionFest VI Poetry Open Mic on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011. The poem was written in 2003 for the 200 people who jumped or fell to the deaths from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Happy Dirt plays "I Got It On With the P.E. Teacher" at GumptionFest VI

2011-09-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Dirt plays "I Got It On With the P.E. Teacher" at the Oak Creek Brewing Co. stage at GumptionFest VI

Vamp Syllabus at GumptionFest VI

2011-09-20T11:00:00.007-07:00

Photo by Beth Robbins Nelson

Vamp Syllabus with Mike Leibowitz, left, Dylan Jung, Matt Barlow and Philip Robbins playing GumptionFest VI on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011.

"So Beautiful" sung by Amelia Melody

2011-09-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Amelia Melody, daughter of Jason Vargo and Amy Lienhart sings the song "So Beautiful" at GumptionFest VI athe Best of Show Stage on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011.

If the Beastie Boys Were Narcoleptic Haiku

2011-09-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

Teresa Newkirk performs the best (and most painful) haiku at the third annual GumptionFest Haiku Death Match. Teresa went on to win the haiku slam.

Need more inspiration before GumptionFest's third annual Haiku Death Match?

2011-09-15T12:10:00.003-07:00

GumptionFest VI's Haiku Death Match, aka GF6HDM

As in past years, we will hold a Haiku Death Match, aka Head-to-Head Haiku Slam, at GumptionFest VI: Return of the Art. GumptionFest VI will be Friday to Sunday, Sept. 16 to 18, along Coffee Pot Drive in West Sedona.

The Haiku Death Match will be held Sunday, Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. at the Best of Show Stage, on the corner of Yavapai and Coffee Pot drives.

Challenge last year's champion, The Klute,
and vie for the
Grand Prize of $17

More haiku to inspire you:

first, five syllables
then seven more syllables
five more, then you're done

Your mom's so ugly
she makes onions go cry
ha,ha ha, ha ... burn.

Dancing with the stars,
you left, on a gust of wind...
I used to hold you.
-- Jade Maestas

Solitary crow
atop tree's bare bones
standing watch on shore.
-- C.J. Almeten

Leaves fall and twigs snap
Branches sway and trunk decays
But the roots stay strong
--Tim Yu

Tropical Whirlwind
Rain lash and wind blows non stop
moving off and gone
-- Edward J. Neary

Email Subject Line Haiku
Viagra again!
Can there really be that much
Penile dysfunction?
-- Colleen A. Mayowski

Email leaves the leaves
on the trees; it connects and
saves our world at once
--Sarah Hatch

A sucker is born
every minute they say
which keeps SPAM alive.
--Kris Dougherty

GumptionFest's third annual Haiku Death Match nears, so start writing

2011-09-14T17:15:00.014-07:00

GumptionFest VI's Haiku Death Match, aka GF6HDM

Challenge last year's champion, The Klute,
and vie for the
Grand Prize of $17

Having trouble creating haiku? You can try this, Everypoet.com's Haiku Generator. While the haikus fit the 5-7-5 format, some are incoherent, but others form some creative images. You could take the suggestion and make something better, too. A few:

unaided laughter

sagging stones ringing cows scowl

intently riding

razors blush, pumpkins

emerge frigidly, mist

jingles, ruby hums

rippling limply, cow

excretes, lion ringing cheap

dolphins emerge

bewitched hyena

emerges loudly, heron

saddens, stream moaning

dumb cruel sick birch slides

blindly, retreating, moving

cruel enemy hides

thundershower cries

cries, hobbling

inanely, drily

firstborns spray, breasts leap

hardening, moping, archly

lewdly, decaying

There are 7.62 duodecillion possible combinations, or 7,620,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 which would take 241,463,229,142,900,600,806,144,953,988,900 years to read if you clicked one per second.

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, Mark Palos, Slam Free Or Die

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Poet Mark Palos from Slam Free Or Die, (Manchester, N.H.), performs during a cipher at on the street in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14 - after the Cambridge Police politely advise the poets to not applaud or cheer.

Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #7

2011-09-12T21:00:00.001-07:00

A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.

Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.

If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #6

2011-09-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #5

2011-09-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #4

2011-09-12T12:00:00.001-07:00

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #3

2011-09-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.

Shot in Le Meridian Hotel, Cambridge.

If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.

"They Held Hands," for those who fell from the World Trade Center

2011-09-11T06:59:00.003-07:00

"They Held Hands"

For the 200 people who jumped or fell to the deaths
from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

On a commonplace Tuesday morning,
not unlike that Sunday morning
60 years before, destined for infamy
they held hands as they fell

It was a working Tuesday
a date on the calendar
a morning like the morning before
but now they found themselves
standing on the window sill
of the 92nd floor
overlooking the city
and they felt weightless

They were not thinking
about the cause-and-effect history
of textbooks and CNN sound bytes
they weren’t debating the geopolitical ramifications leading up to that morning
he had decaf
she had a bearclaw and an espresso
and they talked about Will & Grace

jets impregnated buildings with infernos
and now the fire was burning
and the smoke was rising
and it was getting hard to breathe
even after they smashed the window out
the inferno was swelling
it had reached their floor
their stairwells were gone
and the options now
were to burn
or to fall

when the human animal realizes death is inevitable
psychologists say we want control
over those final moments
choosing suicide over surrender is a healthy reaction
because we choose to accept annihilation
rather than letting it choose us

So on one side
is unbearable heat
roaring flames
acrid smoke
and screams of the suffering
On the other side
fresh air
suicide is the final act of free will
that keeps the consciousness intact
even as it is destroyed

but they were not thinking about psychology
they were not thinking about terrorism
the debate about responsibility,
retalaiation,
wars, flags, and Patriot Acts
can wait until September 12th
this morning belongs to them
because they did not have a tomorrow
the true terror of that morning
is to know what they were thinking
as they decided then whether
to burn
or to fall
now, imagine having that conversation
with the stranger
sitting next to you:
The barricade at the door is on fire
the extinguisher is empty
we are blinded by the smoke
and on the windowsill of the 92nd floor
we wait until flames lick our clothes
before we lean forward
and choose that moment to fall
others who fell were scrambling
or screaming or on fire
but we held hands as we fell

survivors of falls from extreme heights report
that falls are slow-motion transcendence
and the experience is almost “mystical”

I don’t know if they felt “mystical”
I know it takes
1 …
2 …
3 …
4 …
5 …
6 …
7 …
8.54 seconds to fall 1,144 feet

just enough time to say a prayer
or regret a memory
or ask forgiveness
or say goodbye
or wonder how the sky can be so perfectly blue
on such a beautiful morning

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet Brando Chemtrails

2011-09-10T21:00:00.001-07:00

Poet Brando Chemtrails from Denver's SlamNuba performs during a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14. Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.

SlamNuba won the 2011 National Poetry Slam. Brando is one reason why.

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #2

2011-09-10T18:00:00.002-07:00

A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.

Shot in Le Meridian Hotel, Cambridge.

If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet J.G. The Jugganaut

2011-09-10T15:00:00.002-07:00

Poet J.G. The Jugganaut performs during a cypher at Le Meridian Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet Electric Jon from the Toronto Slam Team

2011-09-10T11:59:00.001-07:00

Electric Jon from the Toronto Slam Team performs during a cipher at Le Meridian Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2011 National Poetry Slam.

Photo by Matt Toth/Toronto Poetry Slam

Electric Jon from the Toronto Poetry Slam

Fox the Poet

Rowie Shebala wins the January Sedona Poetry Slam

Sedona Poetry Slam season's final list of features

Jahnilli Akbar, Sedona Poetry Slam 12-3-2011, teaser poem

Ryan Brown performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Valence performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 201

Josh Wiss performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

nodalone performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

The Klute performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Mikel Weisser performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Spencer Troth performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Christopher "You Phonik" Harbster performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Jack Egan performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Buy your tickets now for the Sedona Poetry Slam on Jan. 7

Lauren Perry performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Gary Every calibration poem at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Flagstaff Slammaster Ryan Brown features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Jan. 7

Ryan Brown, Aaron Johnson, Bill Campana and Sean Patrick Conlon to feature in Sedona

The Klute wins the December Sedona Poetry Slam

All You Need is Love, in 156 countries

Tonight: New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar features at Sedona Poetry Slam

"How to Make an Issue of the 'Zine Beat Tiger"

"Star Wars vs Star Trek" by Faldwin J. Bard and Christopher Fox Graham

America's First, and Best, Slam Poem: A Poetical Analysis of Abraham Lincoln’s "Gettysburg Address"

"Wake Up Call" by Dre Johnson and Patrick Ohslund

New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar features at Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #20 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #19 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #18 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #17 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #16 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #15 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #14 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #13 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #12 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #11 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #10 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #9 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #8 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #7 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #6 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #5 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #4 by Harley Deuce

We Call Him Papa

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #3 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #2 by Harley Deuce

Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #1 by Harley Deuce

Sedona Poetry Slam - 2012 season

"Scars Open Letter to Hollywood from Heath Ledger," by Marshall Soulful Jones

"Scars: Open Letter to Hollywood from Heath Ledger"

Worst time to busk ... or newest Jaguar Paw song?

Veteran Haiku

"A Constellation of Scars" by Christopher Fox Graham

"They Held Hands" at GumptionFest VI Poetry Open Mic

Happy Dirt plays "I Got It On With the P.E. Teacher" at GumptionFest VI

Vamp Syllabus at GumptionFest VI

"So Beautiful" sung by Amelia Melody

If the Beastie Boys Were Narcoleptic Haiku

Need more inspiration before GumptionFest's third annual Haiku Death Match?

GumptionFest's third annual Haiku Death Match nears, so start writing

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, Mark Palos, Slam Free Or Die

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #7

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #6

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #5

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #4

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #3

"They Held Hands," for those who fell from the World Trade Center

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet Brando Chemtrails

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #2

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet J.G. The Jugganaut

National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet Electric Jon from the Toronto Slam Team

"Scars:
Open Letter to Hollywood from Heath Ledger"