"I Am Woman (Nothing To Do With You)" by Ilyssa Goldsmith

 

Ilyssa Goldsmith performing "I Am Woman (Nothing To Do With You)" at The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix, AZ on Feb 7, 2022.

Ghost Poetry Show is committed to creating a community of writers from the greater Phoenix area (and beyond) to share their work on stage. We take pride in having poets that have never performed their work in front of anyone, all the way up to poets that have competed at the national level. No matter gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age anyone can take the stage and compete in the three round poetry slam.

"We Band of Brothers," The St. Crispin's Day Speech performed by Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh performs the inspirational speech of Henry V to his men as they go forth into the Battle of Agincourt on St. Crispin's Day, Oct. 25, 1415.

The other actors in the scene are

• Brian Blessed as Thomas Beaufort, Duke of EXETER, uncle to King Henry V. Exeter was the third son John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and half-brother to the late Henry IV, aka Henry Bolingbroke, who was the first son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
• Paul Gregory as the Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of WESTMORELAND
• Nicholas Ferguson as the Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of WARWICK (but reading lines written for Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of SALISBURY)

from "Henry V," spoken by King Henry V of England

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

WESTMORELAND

Of fighting men they have full three score thousand.

EXETER 

There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh.

SALISBURY (read by WARWICK in Branagh's 1989 film)

These are fearful odds

WESTMORELAND

O that we now had here

But one ten thousand of those men in England

That do no work to-day!

KING HENRY V

What's he that wishes so?

My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:

If we are mark'd to die, we are enow

To do our country loss; and if to live,

The fewer men, the greater share of honour.

God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.

By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,

Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;

It yearns me not if men my garments wear;

Such outward things dwell not in my desires:

But if it be a sin to covet honour,

I am the most offending soul alive.

No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:

God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour

As one man more, methinks, would share from me

For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!

Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,

That he which hath no stomach to this fight,

Let him depart; his passport shall be made

And crowns for convoy put into his purse:

We would not die in that man's company

That fears his fellowship to die with us.

This day is called the feast of Crispian:

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

He that shall live this day, and see old age,

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.

And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'

Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,

But he'll remember with advantages

What feats he did that day: then shall our names.

Familiar in his mouth as household words

Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,

Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,

Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.

This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remember'd;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

"Big Tobacco" by Frankie Marchi & Landry Ntaryamira

Frankie Marchi & Landry Ntaryamira performing "Big Tobacco" at The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix, AZ on June 5, 2022.

Ghost Poetry Show is committed to creating a community of writers from the greater Phoenix area (and beyond) to share their work on stage. We take pride in having poets that have never performed their work in front of anyone, all the way up to poets that have competed at the national level. No matter gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age anyone can take the stage and compete in the three round poetry slam.

"If You Could Hold The City Of Mesa Up To Your Ear, You Would Most Likely Hear An Empty Shell" by Bill Campana

Bill Campana performing "If You Could Hold The City Of Mesa Up To Your Ear, You Would Most Likely Hear An Empty Shell" at The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix, AZ on April 5, 2022.

Ghost Poetry Show is committed to creating a community of writers from the greater Phoenix area (and beyond) to share their work on stage. We take pride in having poets that have never performed their work in front of anyone, all the way up to poets that have competed at the national level. No matter gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age anyone can take the stage and compete in the three round poetry slam. 

"Bath Bombs" by Destiny Rhinehart

Destiny Rhinehart performing "Bath Bombs" at The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix, AZ on May 10, 2022.

Ghost Poetry Show is committed to creating a community of writers from the greater Phoenix area (and beyond) to share their work on stage. We take pride in having poets that have never performed their work in front of anyone, all the way up to poets that have competed at the national level. No matter gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age anyone can take the stage and compete in the three round poetry slam.

Sedona Poetry Slam returns to Mary D. Fisher Theater on Oct. 15

After the successful return of slam poetry to Sedona in September, the Sedona Poetry Slam returns to the stage on Saturday, Oct. 15, starting at 7:30 p.m. 

Performance poets will bring high-energy, competitive spoken word to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. 

A poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays, judged by the audience. Anyone can sign up to compete in the slam for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. British-born Village of Oak Creek poet Roger Blakiston, a first-time slammer, out-scored some of the best slam poets in the state to win the top prize in September. 

Roger Blakiston

To compete in the slam, poets will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted. The poets are judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.

Lydia Gates

Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. Poets come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School. All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain and inspire the audience with their creativity.

Valence

Mary D. Fisher Theatre is located at 2030 W. SR 89A, Suite A-3, in West Sedona. Tickets are $12. For tickets, call 282-1177 or visit SedonaFilmFestival.org.

The upcoming poetry slams of the season will be held Saturdays, Nov. 12, Dec. 10, Jan. 28, April 1 and May 13.

The prize money is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporters Jeanne and Jim Freeland.

Email foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up early to compete or by the Friday before the slam or at the door the day of the slam. Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive. 

For more information, visit sedonafilmfestival.com or foxthepoet.blogspot.com.

B-Jam

What is Poetry Slam? 

Founded at the Green Mill Tavern in Chicago in 1984 by Marc Smith, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport designed to get people who would otherwise never go to a poetry reading excited about the art form when it becomes a high-energy competition. 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. Slam poets have opened at the Winter Olympics, performed at the White House and at the United Nations General Assembly and were featured on "Russell Simmon's Def Poets" on HBO.

Sedona has sent four-poet teams to represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., Boston, Cambridge, Mass., Oakland, Calif., Decatur, Ga., Denver and Chicago.

Josh Wiss

"Riot" by Dylan Kingsley

Dylan Kingsley performing "Riot" at The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix, AZ on May 10, 2022.

Ghost Poetry Show is committed to creating a community of writers from the greater Phoenix area (and beyond) to share their work on stage. We take pride in having poets that have never performed their work in front of anyone, all the way up to poets that have competed at the national level. No matter gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age anyone can take the stage and compete in the three round poetry slam.