A brief history of FlagSlam Nationals Teams

December 2000, FlagSlam founded.

In 2001, 12th National Poetry Slam in Seattle, Wash.:
Grand Slam Champion: Josh Fleming
Nick Fox
Chris Lane
Christopher Fox Graham
Alternate: Eric “A-rek” Matthew Dye
Coach: Andy “War” Wall

After I graduated from Arizona State University and made the FlagSlam team, I moved to Flagstaff in June.

I tried out for the FlagSlam team in 2002 but pulled the "1" and got clobbered. I had already been planning the Save the Male Tour with Josh Fleming, so that was my summer instead. 

In 2002, 13th National Poetry Slam in Minneapolis, Minn.:
Grand Slam Champion: Suzy La Follette
Logan Phillips
Andy “War” Hall
Dom Flemons
Alternate: Jarrod Masseud Karimi (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Coach and alternate: John Raymond Kofonow

First tie at NPS: New York City-Urbana and Detroit

In 2003, 14th National Poetry Slam in Chicago, Ill.:
Grand Slam Champion: Suzy La Follette
Logan Phillips
Cass Hodges
Dom Flemons
Alternate: Julie Hudgens (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Coach and alternate: John Raymond Kofonow

I was a volunteer bout manager at NPS in 2003.

In 2004: 15th National Poetry Slam in St. Louis, Mo.:
Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Fox Graham
Eric Larson
Logan Phillips
Brent Heffron
Coaches: Mary Guaraldi, and John Raymond Kofonow

First time all four NPS finalist teams were from west of the Mississippi River (Hollywood's Da Poetry Lounge, Denver, Dallas and Berkeley). One of the worst organized NPSes due to the location of venues relative to each other and the venues in question.

In 2005: 16th National Poetry Slam in Albuquerque, N.M.:
Grand Slam Champion: Chris Lane
Logan Phillips
Christopher Fox Graham
Meghan Jones
Aaron Johnson
Coaches: Mary Guaraldi and John Raymond Kofonow

FlagSlam sent a crew of poets and supporters because Albuquerque was so close. I was also legal guardian for my ward, Sarrah Wile. One of the best organized NPSes. All venues were within walking distance of the Hotel Blue. The hotel manager lost his job for what he allowed us to do, but won the Spirit of the Slam Award.

In 2006: 17th National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas:
Aaron Johnson
Christopher Fox Graham (kicked off team before the National Poetry Slam)
Meghan Jones (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Justin “Biskit” Powell
Alternate: A.J. Moyer (Joined team)
Coaches: Greg Nix (quit before the National Poetry Slam) and John Raymond Kofonow (quit before the National Poetry Slam)

This year was a train wreck. Those who know why, know why. I'm glad A.J., Aaron Johnson and Biskit had a good time at NPS, though.

In 2007: 18th National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas:
Grand Slam Champion: Joseph Nieves
Aaron Johnson
Troy Thurman
J.J. Valentine

Last year Individual Poetry Slam Championships were held at NPS. They would be held at a separate event, the Individual World Poetry Slam starting in 2008.

In 2008: 19th National Poetry Slam in Madison, Wis.:
Grand Slam Champion: Frank O'Brien
Ryan Brown
John Cartier
Jessica Guadarrama
Alternate: Kami Henderson
Coach: Dana Sakowicz

In 2009: 20th National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, FL.
Grand Slam Champion: Frank O'Brien
Ryan Brown
John Cartier
Andrew “Antranormus” Wanner
Jessica Guadarrama
Coach: Dana Sakowicz

In 2010: 21st National Poetry Slam in St. Paul, Minn:
Grand Slam Champion: Ryan Brown
Brian Towne
Johnny P (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
RahMahMercy (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Frank O'Brien (Joined team in Johnny P's slot)
Christopher Fox Graham (Joined team in RahMahMercy's slot)
Alternate: Christopher Harbster (quit before the National Poetry Slam)

I was going to be a volunteer bout manager at NPS in 2010, but wound up on the team.

In 2011: 22nd National Poetry Slam in Cambridge and Boston, Mass.:
Grand Slam Champion: Shaun “nodalone” Srivastava
Maple Dewleaf
Taylor Marie “Tay” Kayonnie-Ehrlich
Christopher Harbster (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Alternate: Tyler “Valence” Sirvinskas (Joined team)

I was a volunteer venue manager at NPS in 2011.

In 2012: 23rd National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C.:
Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Fox Graham
Ryan Brown
Tara Pollock (tied)
Shaun “nodalone” Srivastava (tied)
Alternate: Jackson Morris

Photo by Tara Graeber

The 2012 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team: Ryan Brown, left, Grand Slam Champion Christopher Fox Graham, Shaun "Nodalone" Srivastava and Tara Pollock. Jackson Morris won the alternate's slot.

"Today, he Woke Up with Visions of the Future," by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlic

"Today, he Woke Up with Visions of the Future," by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich, third round poem in the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30, 2011.

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber 

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. Fifteen years later she started spitting poems at FlagSlam. The first time she slammed, she shook like a leaf, but now she commands the audience.

Now at 18, she is staring into a world of open doors, not sure of which ones to walk through. She believes that life is all about fun and happiness, and we must learn to make it just that.

Like a child, she’s constantly curious and eager to see what life’s all about, and eager to find out. Writing is one of the many ways she expresses her audacity for life. Performing her poetry for three years now, she believes that slam poetry isn’t just a competition, but a tool, one to be heard.

"My Flock," by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich

"My Flock," by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich, second round poem in the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30, 2011.

"My Flock"

by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich 
published in the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"

Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber 

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Born into a world that taught me life was a prison,
I was constantly trying to escape,
Trying to drain my soul from the confines of my veins,
I used to give myself near death experiences,
There’s no living like near death,
I tatted my arm in every tear I’ve ever cried,
I got a sleeve to prove it,
Do it yourself prison tattoos,
Even if they do fade,
They’re still permanent,
This is one of the only consistencies in my life,
Besides the fact that we’re all born with only one guarantee,
Someday, we’re going to die,
It’s just a matter of time,
And so far my life had just been prison time,
The walls of this tin can trailer are makeshift prison bars,
The baggage that my family claims is my ball and chain,
The skin trapping my soul in my body was a metaphorical straightjacket,
Until I met you guys,
Like an epiphany you made me realize,
That all boundaries are imaginary,
That boundaries are only created by people who are afraid to think outside of the box,
Y’all taught me not to fear that box,
Because it’s only cardboard,
And i can just burn it down,
Y’all showed me my fire,
It used to be wild,
I’d burn forests,
But now I just burn trees,
And on these trees,
I climb higher,
At the top of these trees,
I touch the sky,
And I fly,
In the prison of my body I never recognized my own reflection,
But you, Saw me for who I am,
And you showed me my wings,
Y’all taught me to fly,
And I’ll fly with you for the rest of my life,
Because you’re my flock,
You’re my family,
We’ll be the V in the sky
V meaning Veni Vidi Vici,
We came, we saw, we CONQUERED,
Y’all helped me to conquer,
Because when the family that birthed me was slowly pulling apart my seams,
You’d be the family that knew how to sew,
You’re my needle and thread,
Together we can fix any tear,
When I was oh so close to drowning,
You were my life jacket,
Rescuing me from my shipwreck of a self,
You showed this stubborn captain that sometimes it’s OK to abandon the ship,
There’s another one out there,
And the oceans, still need to be sailed,
Although I feared those killer whales,
Y’all taught me life lessons like fairy tales,
Because the world is the Big Bad Wolf,
It was constantly breaking down my walls,
But you two helped me to rebuild them,
Even stronger,
Now the Big Bad Wolf can’t fuck with me,
Because not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin will we let you in,
We lock the world out,
We make our own world,
Where the sky is not the limit,
Because there are no limits,
My body is not a prison, it is a weapon,
And I shall fight for the rest of my life,
For my blue skies, and my late nights,
And I just hope you’ll always be by my side.

Copyright 2011 © Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. Fifteen years later she started spitting poems at FlagSlam. The first time she slammed, she shook like a leaf, but now she commands the audience.

Now at 18, she is staring into a world of open doors, not sure of which ones to walk through. She believes that life is all about fun and happiness, and we must learn to make it just that.

Like a child, she’s constantly curious and eager to see what life’s all about, and eager to find out. Writing is one of the many ways she expresses her audacity for life. Performing her poetry for three years now, she believes that slam poetry isn’t just a competition, but a tool, one to be heard.

"Call Me Wildfire" by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich

"Call Me Wildfire," by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich, first round poem in the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30, 2011.

"Call Me Wildfire"

by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich 
published in the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"

Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber 

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Angry. Rude. Psycho. Slut. Cunt. Hoe. Mean. Crazy fucking bitch,
Yes, I may be all of these things, but please,
If you’re going to label me,
Call me wildfire.
Like the flames blasting in Satan’s inferno,
I can often seem like a curse,
I can rip your soul to shreds,
Because I got a temper like a fire-breathing dragon,
You do not want to test me,
Come upon my lair,
And you will not be the hero in this story,
Mother, when I was just a spark of imagination floating through the hollow crevices of your body,
You had no idea, that I was going to catch,
And when his energy pounded you like lightning bolts on a dry Arizona desert,
I combusted into reality,
Like the Big Bang, I came out of nowhere,
But I am not a mistake.
I am an act of God,
A natural disaster created by your body,
How was I supposed to know you didn’t think I could happen?
I am just your mistake, how do you expect me to act?
I’m just the coals you didn’t put out,
You left me alone in this forest to die,
But instead I thrived,
I’ve been physically programmed to burn,
Watching everything you’ve done is how I have learned,
Have you ever watched a fire dance?
So gracefully, so effortlessly,
Breathing in air, and blowing out carbon,
I can make poison,
I can bring forests to their knees,
Please, don’t disturb …
I’m just trying to dance,
And when you try to tame me, enclosing me in this ring,
I get antsy, I get lonely,
So I’m going to throw my arms out and close my eyes,
Grasp onto anything within my reach,
Until this whole forest dances with me,
Oh, this earth, you are my dance floor,
And I promise, I will never stop dancing,
I’m kind of a crazy dancer,
I will probably scuff my shoes and leave my mark,
19
But I’m telling you, you’re going to love to watch me do it.
You say I’m out of control, but I’m just doing the only thing I know how,
I’m being myself,
So what if the world hates me?
I don’t want to touch me anyway; because all they try to do is put out my flame,
You cannot tame me.
Because for 18 years I’ve been kindling charcoals in the deepest fire pit in my heart,
Slowly, I’ve grown bigger and bigger,
Stronger and stronger,
And now,
I am a wildfire.
Vicious and out of control,
Devastating and beautiful,
I am mesmerizing,
Drawing you in like an unexpecting moth to a death trap porch light,
You want to touch me,
Making your skin tingle,
I bring the heat,
Make you sweat,
Hurt so good,
Our bodies make friction,
But my touch will leave scars,
You’re going to remember me,
And sometimes you’re going to wish you never played with me,
Please, do not hate me,
I swear it’ll all grow back,
Because time heals everything; I’m just trying to make the most of it,
This is just the only way I know how to express myself,
Mom, after 18 years of watching all of our love be a twisted recreation of abuse,
I do not know how to love,
I just know how to burn,
I don’t expect you to understand,
But we are wildfires blazing up,
We will hurt others and push them away,
But we will always burn bright and true,
Because this is what we were made to do,
Fire travels uphill faster,
I’m going to make it to the top,
And all of the negativity,
Will be the fuel to light me,
I can’t be put out.
I am now 18,
And this is just the beginning.

Copyright 2011 © Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. Fifteen years later she started spitting poems at FlagSlam. The first time she slammed, she shook like a leaf, but now she commands the audience.

Now at 18, she is staring into a world of open doors, not sure of which ones to walk through. She believes that life is all about fun and happiness, and we must learn to make it just that.

Like a child, she’s constantly curious and eager to see what life’s all about, and eager to find out. Writing is one of the many ways she expresses her audacity for life. Performing her poetry for three years now, she believes that slam poetry isn’t just a competition, but a tool, one to be heard.

Ryan Brown wins the July Sedona Poetry Slam; money sends Flagstaff team to NPS

Results from the July 30th Sedona Poetry Slam

FlagSlam SlamMaster and three-time team alumnus Ryan
Brown won the July Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30.

Ryan Brown won the Sedona Poetry Slam, held Saturday, July 30, 2011, at Studio Live in Sedona, Arizona, 7:30 p.m.

The first round started a little rough, but all the poets got into the groove by the second round.

In the end, we raised a couple hundred dollars for the four Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team members with an additional $40 donated by sound tech Mike Burdick and $50 from Jerry Buley, Ph.D.

Round 1
Random Draw

Calibration: Christopher Fox Graham of Sedona, "Open Letter to Dave Matthews"


nodalone†, aka Shaun Srivastava, of Flagstaff, "LeBron James," 27.0
Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich†, of Flagstaff, "Call Me Wildfire, ‡" 27.3
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, "My hair is here to be dangerous ...*," 26.4
Maple Dewleaf†, of Flagstaff, "Time Bomb, ‡" 25.5
Valence, of Flagstaff†, "Ordinary as Mountaintops, ‡" 27.3
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, "I've wanted to blend together with you ...*," 28.2

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham of Sedona, "Staring at the Milky Way with One Eye Closed"

Round 2
Reverse Order

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, "When we were first introduced ...*," 27.6, 55.8
Valence, of Flagstaff, "This is an open letter to the dissidents of my generation ...*," 27.7, 55.0
Maple Dewleaf, of Flagstaff, "Walking ‡," 28.1, 53.6
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, "These Words," 28.5, 54.9
Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich, of Flagstaff, "My Flock ‡," 28.7, 56.0
nodalone, of Flagstaff, "Rhetoric ‡," 27.6, 54.6

Clearing: Christopher Fox Graham of Sedona, "There is a Girl in Your County"

Round 3
High to Low

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham of Sedona, "Orion"

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich, of Flagstaff, "Today, he woke up with visions of the future ...*," 27.9, 83.9
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, "Goodbye (It takes guts to say it / to let that word drip from your lips ...*),"29.0, 84.8
Valence, of Flagstaff, "Fever Dreams ‡,"27.4, 82.4
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, "A 1,000 Best Days," 27.8, 82.7
nodalone, of Flagstaff, "Line in the Sands ‡," 29.1, 83.7
Maple Dewleaf, of Flagstaff, "Dear Wildflower ‡," of Flagstaff, 27.8, 81.4

Special poem ('cause my mom was there): Christopher Fox Graham of Sedona, "The Peach is a Damn Sexy Fruit"

Photos courtesy of Tara Graeber

The Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team, Taylor Marie

Kayonnie-Ehrlich, from left, nodalone, Valence and Maple

Dewleaf, will represent Northern Arizona at NPS in Boston
from Aug. 8 to 14.

Final scores
1st: Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, $50

2nd: Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Erlich†, of Flagstaff, 83.9

3rd: nodalone†, of Flagstaff, 83.7

4th: Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 82.7
5th: Valence†, of Flagstaff, 82.4
6th: Maple Dewleaf†, of Flagstaff, 81.4

Slam staff

Host, Scorekeeper and Timekeeper: Christopher Fox Graham
Organizers: April Payne of Studio Live and Christopher Fox Graham of Sedona 510 Poetry
Sound: Mike Burdick of Studio Live

Next Sedona Poetry Slam: GumptionFest VI, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, Studio Live, Sedona

* First line of poem; I don't know the title.
† Member of the 2011 Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team
‡ Published in "Gossamer Outrage," the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team chapbook. Contact a team member to buy a copy.

Get your tickets now for the July 30th Sedona Poetry Slam

Photos courtesy of Tara Graeber

The Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team, Taylor Marie

Kayonnie-Ehrlich, from left, nodalone, Valence and Maple

Dewleaf, will perform at the Sedona Poetry Slam on

Saturday, July 30.

Flagstaff poets feature at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.

The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.

The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.

----- The poets of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team -----

nodalone

Originally from East Lansing, Mich., Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, moved to Flagstaff in 2008 to attend Northern Arizona University.

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.

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

Maple Dewleaf

Born of the smoggy heart of Texas the youngest brother of five to a single mother, Maple Dewleaf was brought into this world a free spirit. As a child he would spend most of his time barefoot and in the forests of Northern Arizona. To this day Huckleberry Finn remains his biggest hero.

He became a significant member of Flagstaff’s poetry slam at the age of 16 while experiencing a slight case of house arrest fever. Having first hitched a ride at the age of 13, swears to this day the best way to catch a ride is to look very undetermined but still focused on something just over the horizon of view.

Dewleaf has worked as a grocery bagger, fence painter, fast-food cook, fry-cook, door installer, the wise hippie janitor of a truck stop, and various street side attractions including musician with classically trained vocals, alleyway poet, psychedelic amusement and $5 dare-taker extraordinaire.

At the ripe old age of almost 20 years, he was given the greatest gift he ever received: Wildflower Clementine, his beautiful daughter. Most days Maple can be found meditating with his gorgeous wife, whom he would crawl hands and knees through barrel cactuses for: Patches Dewleaf and little baby Wildflower, in the hidden woods of Anywhere, America.

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. Fifteen years later she started spitting poems at Flagslam.

The first time she slammed, she shook like a leaf, but now she commands the audience.

Now at 18, she is staring into a world of open doors, not sure of which ones to walk through.

She believes that life is all about fun and happiness, and we must learn to make it just that.

Like a child, she’s constantly curious and eager to see what life’s all about, and eager to find out.

Writing is one of the many ways she expresses her audacity for life. Performing her poetry for three years now, she believes that slam poetry isn’t just a competition, but a tool, one to be heard.

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.

----- To slam -----

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.

The 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.

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.

The Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team, Taylor
Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich, from left, nodalone, Maple
Dewleaf and Valence, will perform at the Sedona
Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30.

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 $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.

For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

nodalone: biopic of the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team

nodalone

Originally from East Lansing, Mich., Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, moved to Flagstaff in 2008 to attend Northern Arizona University.

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.

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

Video by Tara Graeber

FlagSlam poet nodalone features at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.

The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.

The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.

For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

Valence: member of the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team

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.

 

"Ordinary as Mountaintops"

by Valence

from the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"

Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber 

 Valence will perform at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday,
July 30.

People are icebergs … only a fraction of us is visible.
And there’s nothing I wouldn’t give to see beneath the surface,
but I’m accepting the fact I’ll have to ask you what it looks like —
I’m an unreliable narrator too, so I won’t hold it against you
when you don’t give yourself enough credit
If your only regret is that you didn’t start diving,
climbing those underwater mountains sooner, then I’d say
you’re the kinda sinner that makes saints look impossible
beautiful sinners all bound to bear weight alone
the lining of your heart may be stone, and precious beyond measure
so remember it isn’t just saline coming out of your tear ducts
it is mountain spring runoff
your tears melt from ice
and give life to the soil
so continue drying your eyes
you have the kind of hands that could grow beautiful roses
makes me wish I was your first rose …
to know you like your mother did,
to know you like your firstborn.

I wish I’d been your imaginary friend,
your last greatest loss collecting dust
but I’m only a man and I don’t have that power
to see and feel your life as if it were ours
but I’m trying to climb.
I wanna know how you managed a head in the clouds
but your roots like a mountain so deep underground
I wanna breathe the thin air up there
where you see the world from,
because life is a climb and we haven’t got long
it is only to the hearts of our friends that we hold on
please call me your friend, so when it’s all said and done
I know I’ll live on,
it will show in the soft purple stripes on your roses
grown with mountain spring runoff.

We remember our loved ones for the places they take us
when we see from that clifftop through their favorite angle
That’s why I grow roses, to color the landscape
that absent hands led me to once, in the past

and I know I never said, but my first stargaze after we met
I fancied the night sky just some strange arrangement
that the asteroid belt was only god’s theremin.
It sings to us now in the form of a sunset.

Copyright 2011 © Valence Tyler Sirvinskas

FlagSlam poet Valence features at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.

The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.

The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.

For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich: member of the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber 

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich will perform at the Sedona
Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30.

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. Fifteen years later she started spitting poems at FlagSlam. The first time she slammed, she shook like a leaf, but now she commands the audience.

Now at 18, she is staring into a world of open doors, not sure of which ones to walk through. She believes that life is all about fun and happiness, and we must learn to make it just that.

Like a child, she’s constantly curious and eager to see what life’s all about, and eager to find out. Writing is one of the many ways she expresses her audacity for life. Performing her poetry for three years now, she believes that slam poetry isn’t just a competition, but a tool, one to be heard.

Video by Tara Graeber

"Set Me Free"

by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich 
from the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"

I want a man,
Who knows the difference between a bitch and a woman …
Who knows that if he ever tried to treat this woman like a bitch he wouldn’t have a female dog on his hands,
He’d have a psycho killer,
BOY I ain’t no dog,
Don’t let my age fool you,
’cuz I ain’t no little girl,
I am a woman,
And I shall be treated like it,
’cuz boy,
I got my eyes set to kill,
And I’m hunting for my thrill,
Enjoying my free will,
I won’t take your bullshit just ’cuz you’re handing it out like candy,
’cuz yea, I gotta sweet tooth,
But your shit’s sugar-free,
Baby, I want someone naturally sweet,
None of that fake shit for me,
’cuz I’m beyond fed up dealing with your childlike tendencies,
Treating drama like your drug of choice,
It’s like Ritalin to your ADD,
You gotta constant twitch for that fix,
But drama for me,
Is like an old nasty habit I kicked,
I wanna kick you,
Like an old nasty habit,
’cuz I’m tired of playing with these boys,
I’m getting bored of these games,
Like board games,
You’re repetitive and easy,
And really not that much fun to play with,
So give me a man,
Who’d treat me like his job, and get down to business,
Who’d work me the right way as if he was getting paid,
Who’d push all the right buttons like memorizing my phone number,
No speed dialing,
Who could use his tools,
Who could aim with his gun pull the trigger and BANG!
Kinda like cupid’s arrow but a little more forceful,
Who knows how to smoothly touch you,
Like waves washing up on a shore,
Who doesn’t just try to grab you like a kid in a candy store,
I want more.
I want the puzzle pieces to fit together perfectly,
Don’t try to shove ’em if they don’t work,
Treat my body like a wet dream,
Don’t you dare wake up from me,
I wanna be your sanctuary,
Like a black
congregation
singing gospels,
Shout “Hallelujah!”
Treat my lips,
Like precious
Flagstaff tap water after living in Nigeria for a year,
Sip it.
Enjoy it.
I want you to listen to me because if my lips are precious, then so are my words,
Baby hear me roar!
And you are man,
So roar louder!
’til your lungs give out,
And when we can’t speak anymore we’ll talk with our bodies,
I want to be treated like your favorite swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated,
“Please, don’t bend the pages”
Not like a Tonka truck,
Don’t just try to drive me,
’cuz we’re all born into this life running in first place,
’cuz it’s race to the end,
Or a march to the death,
But no one even stops to look at the scenery anymore,
I want my scenery,
’cuz it’s a long journey,
So please,
All you boys of the world understand,
It’s nothing personal,
I’m just not the type to give in,
’cuz I’d rather be eased into it,
’cuz I keep my hurricane of a soul locked behind my fierce eyes,
I keep my lightning bolt of a heart chained up in my rib cage,
I’ve been longing to be set free,
Set me free,
But all you boys do is put in the key,
I need a man,
Who can turn it,
And open the door,
Set me free.

Copyright 2011 © Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

FlagSlam poet Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich features at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30


Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.

The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.

The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.

For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

nodalone: member of the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team

nodalone

Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber

nodalone will perform at the Sedona Poetry
Slam on Saturday, July 30.

Originally from East Lansing, Mich., Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, moved to Flagstaff in 2008 to attend Northern Arizona University.

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.

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

Video by Tara Graeber

"Line in the Sands"

by nodalone 
from the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"

At this very moment
in this great state of Arizona
we have congressmen sipping brandy
out of crystal clear snifters with white supremacists
up in Kingman
correlating Mexicans with empty bunk beds
in private prisons that haven’t even been built yet

laughing amongst themselves
comparing the thread counts in their satin sheet disguise
while their allegedly more educated children size up
ivory husk flecked business cards on wall street
and strategize
on how to sell credit default swaps and derivatives
and scams as grand as Egyptian pyramids
trying to tell college kids
staying up all night searching for scholarships
that the “American Dream”
is still alive
even though we can’t seem to escape the fact that it reeks
of formaldehyde

all while the powers that be perpetrate “patriotic ideas”
like repealing the 14th Amendment
to better protect the American public
from the imminent tidal wave
of little brown “anchor babies” and such nasty liberal tactics
as the “Dream Act” that they fancy to frame in a Pandora’s Box called amnesty

so what does one power broker of cultural purity say to the other?
“oh. I know,
we’ll call it SB 1070”
better get your papers, please
matter of fact I think this is a fake ID
step outta the car, Pedro, and get down on your fucking knees
start praying to that blond-haired
blue-eyed Jesus the same way
Governor Jan Brewer does every night before she slips off into her sweet slumber
resting comfortably on her California King sleep number
tallying migrant worker fatalities like counting sheep
before they’re sent off to slaughter

it’s time to tell our “glorious” war hero of a senator
that this country will not be reduced to Berlin
in the mid 1980s
metal walls and electric fences need only be reserved for cattle in this country
you would think that John McCain would be able to better understand
what it means
to be wrongfully imprisoned
simply for crashing in another man’s land

what was that he said again?
“finish the dang fence already?”
desperately pandering to
hypermedicated
understimulated
overweight
postmenopausal baby boomer blank faces
hiding behind the thick irony of straw gardening hats used to lynch Lipton tea bags
who can’t even navigate their way through a subway to order a ham sandwich

so who you gonna stand with?
NPG Cable and Cox Communications don’t collectively control enough
bandwidth
and there are not enough like-minded activists in this great state
to halt the implementation
of this blatantly racist legislative injustice

how much longer must we wait?
until we see Sheriff Joe Arpaio
dressed in standard-issue
Maricopa County pink jumpsuits sporting
stainless steel shackles enraged
developing strain polyps encaged
behind miles and miles of 20-foot tall chain-link fences

why don’t we just erase the border altogether
and sever the umbilical cord that is funneling federal funding
to that double-wide tractor trailer mechanical combine
of ignorance and hate
that is raping lady liberty and get back to
what that statue on Ellis Island really means

to be that faint glimmer at the end of the tunnel
for those families willing to risk their lives
so their children can grow up to one day realize
that opportunity
is more than that just an abstract term in the middle of an English dictionary

so why does it seem so quiet?
you should be rocking back and forth red in the face and screaming
hell, you’re already on top of the mountain
why don’t you go home and
Google Jim Crow and
come back next week and start shouting

because you see the truth is
history …
is gonna judge our generation
not by what we believed in,
but by what we didn’t.

Copyright 2011 © nodalone Shaun Srivastava

FlagSlam poet nodalone features at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.

The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.

The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.


All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.

For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

Flagstaff poets feature at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30

Photos courtesy of Tara Graeber

The Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team, Taylor Marie

Kayonnie-Ehrlich, from left, nodalone, Valence and Maple

Dewleaf, will perform at the Sedona Poetry Slam on

Saturday, July 30.

Flagstaff poets feature at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.

The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.

The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.

----- The poets of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team -----

nodalone

Originally from East Lansing, Mich., Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, moved to Flagstaff in 2008 to attend Northern Arizona University.

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.

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

Maple Dewleaf

Born of the smoggy heart of Texas the youngest brother of five to a single mother, Maple Dewleaf was brought into this world a free spirit. As a child he would spend most of his time barefoot and in the forests of Northern Arizona. To this day Huckleberry Finn remains his biggest hero.

He became a significant member of Flagstaff’s poetry slam at the age of 16 while experiencing a slight case of house arrest fever. Having first hitched a ride at the age of 13, swears to this day the best way to catch a ride is to look very undetermined but still focused on something just over the horizon of view.

Dewleaf has worked as a grocery bagger, fence painter, fast-food cook, fry-cook, door installer, the wise hippie janitor of a truck stop, and various street side attractions including musician with classically trained vocals, alleyway poet, psychedelic amusement and $5 dare-taker extraordinaire.

At the ripe old age of almost 20 years, he was given the greatest gift he ever received: Wildflower Clementine, his beautiful daughter. Most days Maple can be found meditating with his gorgeous wife, whom he would crawl hands and knees through barrel cactuses for: Patches Dewleaf and little baby Wildflower, in the hidden woods of Anywhere, America.

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich

Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. Fifteen years later she started spitting poems at Flagslam.

The first time she slammed, she shook like a leaf, but now she commands the audience.

Now at 18, she is staring into a world of open doors, not sure of which ones to walk through.

She believes that life is all about fun and happiness, and we must learn to make it just that.

Like a child, she’s constantly curious and eager to see what life’s all about, and eager to find out.

Writing is one of the many ways she expresses her audacity for life. Performing her poetry for three years now, she believes that slam poetry isn’t just a competition, but a tool, one to be heard.

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.

----- To slam -----

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.

The 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.

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.

The Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team, Taylor
Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich, from left, nodalone, Maple
Dewleaf and Valence, will perform at the Sedona
Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30.

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 $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.

For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

Taylor Kayonnie, Sedona Poetry Slam round 7

Taylor Kayonnie is a 16-year-old poet from Flagstaff who has already made a name for herself competing against poets in college, their 20s and 30s. Tay represented the Flagstaff Team Jade Conscious at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, June 27, 2009.

Taylor Kayonnie, Sedona Poetry Slam round 1

Taylor Kayonnie is a 16-year-old poet from Flagstaff who has already made a name for herself competing against poets in college, their 20s and 30s.
Taylor Kayonnie represented the Flagstaff Team Jade Conscious at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, June 27, 2009.