"She Holds a Dragon in Her Spine," by Christopher Fox Graham

she holds a dragon in her spine

made of steel and mint juleps
curled up kundalini in her hips
she rocks to the beat
in a to and fro touch and go
shaking the room to its foundation

she breaks beats like bread
"take, eat of this my body," she says
her blood is busy though
snap kicking extremities to their exasperated edges
like the last great explorer discovering a New World over the horizon
where limbs meet limits
and bones bend time and space
she's a gravity well
drawing the eyes of everyone into her orbit
like falling satellites
burning brilliance in her exosphere
yet unable to touch her surface
without being crushed by the pressure
but if she holds you close like a love letter
just about be cast in the fireplace
presses her fingerprints into paper skin like an undiscovered crime scene
your lips ache to be solved by her detective tongue
until your law and order lifestyle
begs for her anarchy to throw a brick through
your thousand blind windows

she fucks your shit up
like a pirate ship sailing into port
on Take Your Daughter To Work Day

when she grabs you and says “kiss me”
hold onto her like you’re bull riding
on a tight rope
on fire
you’re going to experience some turbulence
and if oxygen drops in the overhead compartments
don't bother gasping for air
grab a sharpie and start writing your name on your body parts
so rescuers can reassemble you after impact
don't expect an open-casket funeral when she’s done with you
she’ll leave you splattered on the sidewalk
from a car bomb MacGyvered from the teeth of broken lovers
and the bones of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
that she uses like toothpicks
because when the end of the world came
she said, “Is that all you got?”
The world's been ending since it started
every time some new gods come along to rename it
and give it their own spin
she just laughs and says
“Fenrir fetches my newspapers”
“the Seven-Headed Beast is my alarm clock”
“who wakes me at 6:66 a.m.”

she's the philosopher of the dance floor
but you can't stop her beat
her hips will just keep dancing
come your Big Crunch flashfire or your intergalactic entropy big freeze

the Big Bang began the beat
and now it's so deep in her bones

her DNA splices in rhythm
A-T-C-C-
G-A-T-T-
T-C-G-G-
C-G-A-A-
stretching into infinity
or until you're so old,
your bones refuse to move
disassembling into their composite atoms she swallows like an anteater to fuel her fire
and thump the universe into hip-hop heartbeat
ba dum dum bang
ba dum dum bang

can you feel it?
it sounds like god tapping her temple
or the rain
or the rapping talons of the dragon in her spine, asking to come inside
and snuggle alongside you
now, open the damn door

"Marine Fossils on Mount Everest," by Christopher Fox Graham

the phone rings
it's her
lying in bed
unable to move
it's either call me
or cut herself again

I am naked words
over a phone line
trying to hold her
but this tunnel
doesn't have light at the end
exit, oncoming train or otherwise

so I talk about Mount Everest

she says she doesn't want to about
mountaineers conquering their fears
besides, the only way off
is to fall or freeze
and she's fallen so far
that the world is cold to the touch already

I say I want to talk about Everest
now, hidden on its slopes …

she says she doesn't want to hear about Shangri-La
a place where dreams come true
if we just let go
of what ties us to the material world
there's no secret entrance to open
with prayer and password

I want to talk about Everest

she says she doesn't want to hear about yeti
how we adapt to our environment
become creatures who can survive anywhere
given circumstance and intention

I say "stop"
I want to talk about Everest
up there, there's no room for metaphor
now, hidden on its slopes
beneath the snow and limestone
under the feet of mountaineers
the tracks of yeti
and the temples of Shangri-La
sandwiched between the stones
are the tiny tombs
of billions of marines animals
despite the claims of creationists
that the gods did it in Noah's drunken haze
or atheists planted them
as if that's all they needed to clinch the contest

there are billions of marine fossils
creatures who fell so deep
swallowed in the muck and mud unmourned
but they were patient
and in millions of years
waited for colliding continents
to shove themselves
colliding like struggling elk
shoving each one higher
until those fossils reached air
higher and higher
until those fossils felt snow
higher and higher
until those fossils scraped the sky
and could gaze across the curve of the Earth
and see it was just a marble floating
like they once did in the sea of space

it takes patience to see the beauty of the world
the wait's not always easy
rainstorms and tectonic shifts
can waylay the best laid plans of mice and men
you don't want to fade away
you ask what the point of life is:
to leave an imprint
a legacy
make a dent in the world
so all your years are worth the time you put in
hold fast,
don't be in a hurry to leave
it takes time to find the right place
the perfect soil to last forever
live like you're already priceless

"Kal-El's Lament" by Christopher Fox Graham

Written while listening to Nick Giello perform a set at Reds

I didn't ask to come here
it was this or death
my parents – my real parents
sent me when everything they knew
was doomed to collapse on itself

this country is unfamiliar
though I've seen so much of it
all I have of home are the recordings of my father
stoic and overbearing
telling from his tomb how to behave
"you must be a beacon
a ray of hope
a savior,
a super man
to these new people"

my mother is a memory
an image and a glimmer
her voice I've recreated
a hundred thousand times
with different timbre and tone
but it never sounds right
never sincere
and always in English
a language I knew she never spoke
I want to hear my native tongue
echoing off the crystal walls
or in the busy streets of cities
I want to see the skies again
feel the sun rising red on the horizon
be a boy
an ordinary boy
who climbs trees and falls from them
with bruises and cuts to prove it
who learns to fear the sight of his own blood
or broken bones

it's hard to be a man
when you've never learned to survive the pain
of growing up

The secret of silence is
if you say nothing
people assume the worst

only in solitude
can I scream out
"fuck this place
and these people"

but I've got nowhere to go
no home, no country
and no one understands
not my boss
not the people I help

my girlfriend thinks I'm someone else
she sees another face
calls me by another name
I can't tell her I only feel warm
standing in snow with no one
around for hundreds of miles
only there can I cry
be the boy I never was
instead of this man they think I am

she has her career
the news stories she chases
she's in love with another man
but never says so
she wants a man who isn't real
who lies to the world about who he is
when she could have me, right here
"we're not that different," I tell her
just cosmetic
different clothes, hair and glasses
but she doesn't see it
he's heroic and I'm just a small town boy

These people want so much from me
these weak, small creatures
who don't stand up for themselves
now that they have me
"why can't you fix this"
"prevent that?"
"why did he live
and my mother die?"
I'm just one man
I can't be everywhere
I have a life, too
I'm not here out of choice
I'm no civil servant – this is my free time
and it's not easy
I rescue you helpless children
you blind kittens
you insects
not because you deserve it
but because I'm not cruel
but I bite my tongue
swallow my pride

they call out for who they want
not who I am
"save us, save us, Superman," they shout
but my name is Kal-El
and this place,
this Earth
is not my home

NORAZ Poets on Wikipedia

 NORAZ Poets is a nonprofit poetry  organization based in Northern Arizona now aimed at youth and senior citizens suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

It was founded in Sedona, Arizona in 2003 by the late poet Christopher Lane, who served as the organization’s executive director until his death in August 2012. The group is run by a seven-member advisory board.

The group ran weekly poetry open mics, biweekly and monthly poetry slams, poetry workshops, featured poetry readings, poet in residence programs in Northern Arizona high schools, maintained a Web site with a calendar of events and several book partnerships, which sold local poets’ work in Northern Arizona bookstores. The group networked two poetry slams: FlagSlam in Flagstaff and VerdeSlam Sedona, Arizona and has a reputation in the national slam poetry scene for treating touring poets with great respect, with booking events, transportation to and from performances and venues, and lodging at the homes of members of the local poetry community.

Poetry organizers in Northern Arizona had sent slams teams to the National Poetry Slam since 2001, officially representing Flagstaff, although the team’s members were from various parts of the region. Between early 2004 and mid-2007, the team competed in local, regional and national poetry slams under the banner “Team NORAZ”.

NORAZ Poets is one of the only rural and regional poetry organizations in the United States.

The organization earned 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status in February 2005.

In March 2005, NORAZ Poets created the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project Arizona Assignment (a branch of the national Alzheimer’s Poetry Project).

Some of the poets affiliated with the group include Robin John Anderson, Jordan Sebastian Bonner, Mary Carvell Bragg, the late Rochelle Brener, Portlin Cochise, Rebekah Crisp, Patrick David DuHaime, Gary Every, Jen Valencia, Josh Fleming, Dom Flemons

, Nick Fox, Karyl Goldsmith, Jesse Dyllan Grace, Christopher Fox Graham, Andy “War” Hall, Dee Hamilton, Brent Heffron, Mary Heyborne, Cass J. Hodges, Aaron Johnson, Jarrod Masseud Karimi, Erik John Karpf, Suzy La Follette, John Raymond Kofonow, the late Christopher Lane, Eric Larson, David “Doc” Luben, William Mawhinney, Douglas McDaniel, Karen Guevara, Logan Phillips, Kaia Placa, John Reid, Betteanne Rutten, David Ward and Mikel Weisser.

In mid-2007, NORAZ Poets effectively ceased its poetry slam activities. Flagstaff area poetry slam events were then taken up by FlagSlam, led by Ryan Brown, John Cartier, Frank O’Brien, Jessica Guadarrama, Dana Sakowicz, Kamryn Henderson, among others. Sedona and Verde Valley area poetry slam events were then taken up by Gary Every and Christopher Fox Graham.

NORAZ Poets uses its 501(c)(3) status as a nonprofit umbrella for the Young Voices Be Heard and Alzheimer’s

 Poetry Project Arizona Assignment Projects.

Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Teams

In 2001, as Team Flagstaff

 at the 11th National Poetry Slam in Seattle, Washington:

• Grand Slam Champion: Josh Fleming
• Nick Fox
• Christopher Lane
• Christopher Fox Graham
• Alternate: A-rek Matthew Dye
• Coach: Andy “War” Wall

In 2002, as Team Flagstaff

 at the 12th National Poetry Slam in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

• Grand Slam Champion: Suzy La Follette
• Logan Phillips
• Andy “War” Hall
• Dom Flemons

Alternate: Jarrod Masseud Karimi (but left the team before the National Poetry Slam)

Coach and alternate: John Raymond Kofonow

In 2003, as Team Flagstaff

 at the 13th National Poetry Slam in Chicago, Illinois:

• Grand Slam Champion: Suzy La Follette
• Logan Phillips
• Cass Hodges
• Dom Flemons

Alternate: Julie Hudgens (but left the team before the National Poetry Slam)

Coach and alternate: John Raymond Kofonow

National Poetry Slam Teams represented by NORAZ Poets

In 2004: as Team NORAZ at the 14th National Poetry Slam in St. Louis, Missouri

.

• Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Fox Graham
• Eric Larson
• Logan Phillips
• Brent Heffron
• Coaches: Mary Guaraldi, Christopher Lane and John Raymond Kofonow

In 2005: as Team NORAZ at the 15th National Poetry Slam in Albuquerque, New Mexico

.

• Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Lane
• Logan Phillips
• Christopher Fox Graham
• Meghan Jones
• Aaron Johnson
• Coaches: Mary Guaraldi and John Raymond Kofonow

In 2006: as Team NORAZ at the 16th National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas

.

• Aaron Johnson
• Christopher Fox Graham
• Meghan Jones
• Al Moyer
• Justin “Biskit” Powell
• Coaches: Greg Nix and John Raymond Kofonow

"I Wish My Pride Was More Malleable," by Christopher Fox Graham

I wish my pride was more malleable
so I could remember the taste of you
but "forgive" is a seven-letter word
neither of us can say
without swallowing back into our chest
to burn deep into our spleens

to sleep
I have replaced your two arms
with two glasses of whiskey
so I don't spend the hours between midnight and daybreak
calculating how my 72¾-inch doorframe
can so perfectly divide us
Korean Peninsula-style
into two halves
sharing the same language and history
but without armistice or peace treaty
to settle the civil war
we both claim the other started
we are starfish:
all fingers and mouths but no ears

I kissed her because she was young and curious
and most importantly, wasn't you
but as her cheeks melted into my hands
she became comparison, afterimage, contrast
the joy of first kiss became science experiment
an astronaut's expedition to a new Earth
"can we survive here, like home?
will the atmosphere adapt to us
or we to it?
will our grandchildren bury us here
or will we bury each other?"

you were the home left behind
the hometown of my eventual obituary
linked to my biography the way
Lee, Marc Antony and Rommel are inseparable
from Appomattox, Actium and El Alamein

You earthquake-forest fire-kaleidoscope wrecking ball:
I understand why warzone survivors stand
in the wreckage of their homes
photographed stone-faced:
there's nothing left to mourn
when one's home isn't still here
just cremated into rubble and ash
it looks fixable,
but it's not
the way the dead, without gunshot wounds,
should spring back to life
after rebooting the hardware because we will it

but anatomy and history and car accidents
are one-way streets
sins we cannot unsay
we've collided at full speed
wreckage strewn across this bedroom
photographs and knickknacks
tagged and noted by the forensic investigators
to chart them back to the moment of impact
not a last kiss,
but the words, "I think you should leave"
spilling from these lips
without the addendum:
"but return tomorrow"
or "when time and reason softens your illogic
and you can remember you are meant
to be the better one of us"

but my unbending pride
will doom me to death by train impact
rather than move out of the way
and my last words
instead of the profundity of poets
with pithy statements
of time's brevity
or the beauty of life strung through mediocre moments
into something grand and glorious
or dying haiku masters in the bamboo forests
waiting for the end to suck the life from their lungs
grown ancient in the pursuit of shorter phrasing
will be something asinine
a gurgle of gibberish
a profane declaration

2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team: Verbal Kensington, Frank O'Brien, Josh Wiss, Valence and Ryan Brown

2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team: from left, Verbal Kensington, Frank O'Brien, Josh Wiss, Valence and Ryan Brown

Sedona Grand Poetry Slam, held Saturday, June 1, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, Sedona, ending the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam Season, hosted by Sedona Slammaster Christopher Fox Graham

Round 1

Draw based on points accumulated over the 2012-13 slam season

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, seven-time member of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team

Calibration: Zachary Bryant Hansen, of Flagstaff

Calibration: Jackson Morris, two-time member of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team

Taylor Hayes, of Phoenix, 21.7 (after -1.0 time penalty), 3:27, -7.2 under, 10th place
Gary Every, of Sedona, 23.5, 2:43, -5.4 under, 9th place
Verbal Kensington, of Flagstaff, 27.0, 3:01, -1.9 under, 4th place
Ashley Swazey, of Flagstaff, 25.3, 1:41, -3.6 under, 8th place
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff, 26.7, 2:03, -2.2 under, tie 5th place
Valence, of Phoenix, 26.3, (after -0.5 time penalty), 3:13, -2.6 under, 7th place
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 28.0, 2:38, -0.9 under, 3rd place
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 26.7, 2:41, -2.2 under, tie 5th place
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 28.9 (with one 10.0), highest score of the round, 2:57, 1st place
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 28.1, 1:52, -0.8 under, 2nd place

Sorbet: The Klute, eight-time member of the Mesa and Phoenix National Poetry Slam Teams

Intermission

Sorbet: Jackson Morris, two-time member of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team

Round 2

Reverse Order

Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 27.1, 55.2, 1:49, -1.4 under, 3rd place
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 26.9, 55.8, 2:54, -0.8 under, 2nd place
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 25.5, 52.2, 2:50, -4.4 under, 8th place
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 26.5, 54.5, 2:21, -2.1 under, 4th place
Valence, of Phoenix, 28.1, 54.4, 2:24, -2.2 under, 5th place
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff, 27.2, 53.9, 2:04, -2.7 under, 6th place
Ashley Swazey, of Flagstaff, 28.3, 53.6, 2:44, -3.0 under, 7th place
Verbal Kensington, of Flagstaff, 29.6 (with two 10.0s), highest score of the round; highest score of the night, 56.6, 1:58, 1st place
Gary Every, of Sedona, 23.3, (after -4.0 time penalty), 46.8, 4:26, -9.8 under, 10th place
Taylor Hayes, of Phoenix, 26.8, 48.5, 2:22, -8.1 under, 9th place

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, seven-time member of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team

Sorbet: The Klute, eight-time member of the Mesa and Phoenix National Poetry Slam Teams

Round 3

High to Low

Verbal Kensington, of Flagstaff, 27.0, 83.6, 1:43, tie 1st place
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 27.8, 83.6, 2:34, tie 1st place
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 28.2, 83.4, 1:42, -0.2 under, 3rd place
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 27.9, 82.4, 1:57, -1.2 under, 5th place
Valence, of Phoenix, 28.1, 82.5, 3:08, -1.1 under, 4th place
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff, 28.0 (with one 10.0), 81.9, 2:06, -1.7 under, 7th place
Ashley Swazey, of Flagstaff, 28.6 (with one 10.0), 82.2, 2:56, -1.4 under, 6th place
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 27.1 (after -1.5 time penalty), 79.3, 3:30, -4.3 under, 8th place
Taylor Hayes, of Phoenix, 28. 9 (with one 10.0), highest score of the round,77.4, 1:58, -6.2 under, 9th place
Gary Every, of Sedona, 24.3 (after -2.5 time penalty), 71.1, 3:59, -12.5 under, 10th place

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, seven-time member of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team

Haiku Death Match

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 4 votes - Verbal Kensington, of Flagstaff, 1 vote

Final Scores

2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team:

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 83.6 +Haiku Death Match, 1st place

Verbal Kensington, of Flagstaff, 83.6, 2nd place

Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 83.4, 3rd place

Valence, of Phoenix, 82.5, 4th place

Alternate:

Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 82.4, 5th place

Ashley Swazey, of Flagstaff, 82:2, 6th place

Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff, 81.9, 7th place

Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 79.3, 8th place

Taylor Hayes, of Phoenix, 77.4, 9th place

Gary Every, of Sedona, 71.1, 10th place

Scorekeeper: Azami

The 2013 Sedona Poetry Grand Slam is coming Saturday, June 1

The 2013 Sedona Poetry Grand Slam is coming Saturday, June 1

The biggest, most energetic poetry event to hit Northern Arizona is coming to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 1: the 2013 Sedona Poetry Grand Slam.

Buy tickets here.

The top 12 slam poets from Sedona, Prescott, Flagstaff and Phoenix will compete in three rounds in front five judges randomly selected from the audience who assign numerical value to individual performances.

At the end of the night, the top four poets will represent Sedona at the weeklong National Poetry Slam in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., in August. There, Sedona’s four representatives and an alternate will compete against more than 350 of the best performance poets from the United States and Canada. At nationals, poets perform both individual and group poems, creating complex, dynamic performances.
Sedona sent its first slam team to the National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., last year.

For the last eight months, poets from all over Arizona have been competing in Sedona, earning points for the Sedona Poetry Grand Slam. Only the top 12 of the nearly 50 competitors made the cut for this invitation-only contest.

Poetry slam is unlike any other poetry event you’ve ever seen. Slam poetry isn’t confusing, enigmatic and esoteric like in a college literature class with rhyme and meter, but an energetic blend of spoken word, theater and performance art.

In each three-minute performance of their original work, poets aim to make audiences laugh, cheer, cry or get chills down their spines. The performers are not permitted to use props, costumes or musical accompaniment, relying instead on their own words and inflections.

Poems range from explosively humorous to deeply personal to wryly political, with styles from hip-hop to narrative storytelling. All types of poetry are welcome. Audience reaction is just as important to a high score as the poetry itself, so the crowd is encouraged to not remain silent, but cheer, boo and engage with the poets’ on stage.

The Sedona Poetry Grand Slam competitors:
• Joshua Wiss’ infectious enthusiasm for life is evident in his energetic performances. A graduate of Northern Arizona University with a degree in creative writing, Wiss was a member of the 2012 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team, performed at every Sedona Poetry Slam this season and is currently ranked No. 1.

• Ryan Brown is the former slammaster of the FlagSlam Poetry Slam and a member of the 2009 team which advanced the NPS semi-finals. Brown was member of the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 national teams before earning degree in English from NAU in 2012.

• Evan Dissinger is one of the preeminent voices in the Flagstaff poetry scene and a member of the 2012 Sedona team. A skateboard rat in Sedona and Flagstaff, Dissinger is one of the most sincere poets in Arizona with a knack for making conventional experiences sublime.

• A poet’s poet, Frank O’Brien writes with a profound simplicity. O’Brien won the 2008 and 2009 Flagstaff Grand Slams, and competed for Flagstaff at three national poetry slams from 2008 to 2010 and for Sedona in 2012.

• A film student at NAU, Josh Floyd is a passionate performer making his first play for the Sedona slam team.

• Tyler Sirvinskas, aka Valence, was a member of the 2011 Flagstaff National Poetry Slam team and Grand Slam Champion of the 2012 Sedona Slam Team.

• Ashley Swazey is a photographer and poet with a background as a speech and debate competitor and coach at a Glendale Community College.

• Author and poet Gary Every is one of Sedona’s most prolific writers, who has published more than 1,000 poems, short stories and articles in newspapers, journals, anthologies and six of his own books.

• Taylor Hayes is a mathematician and poet whose scientific mind finds unique ways to express scientific and social truisms the through artistic medium of poetry.

• Verbal Kensington is the founder and creative director of Necessary Poetry, a poetry collective based in Flagstaff.

• Nodalone, aka Shaun Srivastava, is a two-time member of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team who currently competes in the Las Vegas poetry slam scene.

• 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, 2010 and 2012. 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.

• Three poets from the Phoenix slam scene – Lauren Perry, Jeremiah Blue and Joy Young – are also eligible for the Sedona Slam Team, pending the results of the Phoenix Grand Slam later in May.

Audience members are encouraged to support their favorite poets from over the season.

The Sedona Poetry Grand Slam will be hosted by Sedona poet and slammaster Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at six National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2012 and recently won the 2013 Flagstaff Grand Slam.

The opening calibration poems will be performed members of the Flagstaff and Phoenix National Poetry Slam teams.

For more information about the slam, contact Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com.

Founded in Chicago in 1984 by Marc Smith, a former construction worker, 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 $15, available online at studiolivesedona.com. Proceeds help fund the team’s trip to Boston. Additional donations will gladly be accepted.

The 2013 slam season and the grand slam is cosponsored by the Sedona Performing Arts Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

The Mary D. Fisher Theatre is located at 2030 W. SR 89A, near Coffee Pot Drive in West Sedona. For more information, call (928) 282-2688. For videos from past slams and updates about the grand slam, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.

Buy tickets here.

Hosted by Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on six FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2012

Buy your tickets now for the Sedona Grand Slam

The biggest, most energetic poetry event to hit Northern Arizona is coming to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 1: the 2013 Sedona Poetry Grand Slam.

Buy tickets here.

The top 12 slam poets from Sedona, Prescott, Flagstaff and Phoenix will compete in three rounds in front five judges randomly selected from the audience who assign numerical value to individual performances.

At the end of the night, the top four poets will represent Sedona at the weeklong National Poetry Slam in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., in August. There, Sedona’s four representatives and an alternate will compete against more than 350 of the best performance poets from the United States and Canada. At nationals, poets perform both individual and group poems, creating complex, dynamic performances.
Sedona sent its first slam team to the National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., last year.

For the last sixth months, poets from all over Arizona have been competing in Sedona, earning points for the Sedona Poetry Grand Slam. Only the top 12 of the nearly 50 competitors made the cut for this invitation-only contest.

Poetry slam is unlike any other poetry event you’ve ever seen. Slam poetry isn’t confusing, enigmatic and esoteric like in a college literature class with rhyme and meter, but an energetic blend of spoken word, theater and performance art.

In each three-minute performance of their original work, poets aim to make audiences laugh, cheer, cry or get chills down their spines. The performers are not permitted to use props, costumes or musical accompaniment, relying instead on their own words and inflections.

Poems range from explosively humorous to deeply personal to wryly political, with styles from hip-hop to narrative storytelling. All types of poetry are welcome. Audience reaction is just as important to a high score as the poetry itself, so the crowd is encouraged to not remain silent, but cheer, boo and engage with the poets’ on stage.

The Sedona Poetry Grand Slam competitors:
• Joshua Wiss’ infectious enthusiasm for life is evident in his energetic performances. A graduate of Northern Arizona University with a degree in creative writing, Wiss was a member of the 2012 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team, performed at every Sedona Poetry Slam this season and is currently ranked No. 1.

• Ryan Brown is the former slammaster of the FlagSlam Poetry Slam and a member of the 2009 team which advanced the NPS semi-finals. Brown was member of the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 national teams before earning degree in English from NAU in 2012.

• Evan Dissinger is one of the preeminent voices in the Flagstaff poetry scene and a member of the 2012 Sedona team. A skateboard rat in Sedona and Flagstaff, Dissinger is one of the most sincere poets in Arizona with a knack for making conventional experiences sublime.

• A poet’s poet, Frank O’Brien writes with a profound simplicity. O’Brien won the 2008 and 2009 Flagstaff Grand Slams, and competed for Flagstaff at three national poetry slams from 2008 to 2010 and for Sedona in 2012.

• A film student at NAU, Josh Floyd is a passionate performer making his first play for the Sedona slam team.

• Tyler Sirvinskas, aka Valence, was a member of the 2011 Flagstaff National Poetry Slam team and Grand Slam Champion of the 2012 Sedona Slam Team.

• Ashley Swazey is a photographer and poet with a background as a speech and debate competitor and coach at a Glendale Community College.

• Author and poet Gary Every is one of Sedona’s most prolific writers, who has published more than 1,000 poems, short stories and articles in newspapers, journals, anthologies and six of his own books.

• Taylor Hayes is a mathematician and poet whose scientific mind finds unique ways to express scientific and social truisms the through artistic medium of poetry.

• Verbal Kensington is the founder and creative director of Necessary Poetry, a poetry collective based in Flagstaff.

• Nodalone, aka Shaun Srivastava, is a two-time member of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team who currently competes in the Las Vegas poetry slam scene.

• 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, 2010 and 2012. 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.

• Three poets from the Phoenix slam scene – Lauren Perry, Jeremiah Blue and Joy Young – are also eligible for the Sedona Slam Team, pending the results of the Phoenix Grand Slam later in May.

Audience members are encouraged to support their favorite poets from over the season.

The Sedona Poetry Grand Slam will be hosted by Sedona poet and slammaster Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at six National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2012 and recently won the 2013 Flagstaff Grand Slam.

The opening calibration poems will be performed members of the Flagstaff and Phoenix National Poetry Slam teams.

For more information about the slam, contact Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com.

Founded in Chicago in 1984 by Marc Smith, a former construction worker, 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 $15, available online at studiolivesedona.com. Proceeds help fund the team’s trip to Boston. Additional donations will gladly be accepted.

The 2013 slam season and the grand slam is cosponsored by the Sedona Performing Arts Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

The Mary D. Fisher Theatre is located at 2030 W. SR 89A, near Coffee Pot Drive in West Sedona. For more information, call (928) 282-2688. For videos from past slams and updates about the grand slam, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.

Buy tickets here.

Hosted by Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on six FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2012

Sedona Poetry Grand Slam: Are You Ready?

Sedona Poetry Grand Slam - Saturday, June 1.

In Haiku:

 

12 poets enter.

Battle with their best poems.

Four leave champions.

Click here. Get your tickets now.

Sedona Poetry Slam final rankings

Sedona Poetry Slam final rankings. Names in bold are eligible for the Grand Slam, held at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre in Sedona, on Saturday, June 1. Private invitations will be sent to the poets on the list. Feature poets are eligible to compete as per our guidelines.

			Oct	Nov	Dec	Feb	Mar	Apr
Poet	Total Points	Rank	10/13/12	11/17/12	12/1/12	2/16/12	3/12/12	4/12/12
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff	15	1	2	4	1	1	4	3
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff	9	2	4		1	4
The Klute, of Phoenix	9	2	3	1	3	2
Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona	8	4	1	1	1	1	2	2
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff	8	4	1	2	1	1	2	1
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff	8	4		1	2	1	3	1
Joy Young, of Phoenix	7	7		3	1	3
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott	4	8						4
Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif.	4	8			4
Charles Levett, of Phoenix	3	10	1	1	1
Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix	3	10	1		1	1
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff	2.5	12		1	0.5			1
Valence, of Flagstaff	2.5	12		0.5		1		1
Ashley Swazey, of Phoenix	2	14	1			1
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff	2	14	1	1
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood	2	14	1	1
Gary Every, of Sedona	2	14		1			1
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix	2	14	1		1
Lynn Gravatt, of Sedona	2	14	1		1
MacKenzi Taylor, of Sedona	2	14						2
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff	1.5	21		1	0.5
Verbal Kensington, of Flagstaff	1.5	21				0.5		1
Bill Campana, of Mesa	1	23	1
Bradley Blalock, of Sedona	1	23					1
Frankie Marchi, of Phoenix	1	23						1
Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.	1	23		1
Jackie Stockwell, of Flagstaff	1	23	0.5	0.5
James Gould, of Sedona	1	23						1
Jasmine "Jazz" Sufi Wilkenson of Santa Cruz, Calif.	1	23			1
Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif.	1	23			1
Ky J. Dio, of Flagstaff	1	23				1
Lauren Deja, of Phoenix	1	23	1
Little Blue Lyon-Fish, of Phoenix	1	23	1
nodalone, of Flagstaff	1	23	1
Robert Gonzales, of Flagstaff	1	23			1
Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix	1	23	1
Slammy D, of Flagstaff	1	23				1
Spicy Jack, of Flagstaff	1	23						1
Susan Okie, of Washington, D.C.	1	23				1
Tom Lamkin, of Chicago	1	23					1
Vincent Vega, of Flagstaff	1	23	1

National Poetry Month: "A Finger, Two Dots Then Me" by Derrick Brown

Produced by Duality Filmworks and Write Bloody Publishing

Written and performed by Derrick Brown
Shot, cut and directed by David and Daniel Holechek

Winner - Crystal Heart Award, 2011 Heartland Film Festival
Winner - Best Short Film, 2012 Boulder International Film Festival
Winner - Best Short Film, 2012 Maui Film Festival
Winner - CINE Golden Eagle Award, Fall 2011
Winner - CINE Special Jury Award, Best Short Film, 2011
Winner - CINE Master's Series Award, Best Independent Production, 2011
Winner - Best Film, 2011 San Jose Short Film Festival
Winner - Best Film, 2012 Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival
Winner - Best Film, Best Directors, Audience Favorite, 2011 Milwaukee Short Film Festival
Winner - Best Film, Audience Favorite, 2012 Love Your Shorts Film Festival
Winner - Best Short Film, 2012 Sacramento International Film Festival
Winner - Best Short Experimental Film, 2012 Sonoma International Film Festival
Winner - Audience Favorite, 2011 DC Shorts Film Festival
Winner - Audience Favorite, 2012 Tumbleweed Film Festival
Winner - Audience Favorite, 2012 Rochester International Film Festival
Winner - Best Drama, 2012 Dam Short Film Festival
Winner - Best Experimental Film, 2011 Miami Short Film Festival
Winner - Best Experimental Film, 2011 Illinois International Film Festival
Winner - Best Experimental Film, 2012 Big Easy International Film and Music Festival
Winner - Best Experimental Film, 2012 River Bend International Film Festival
Winner - Best Editing, 2012 Festivus Film Festival
Winner - Gold Award, 2012 Media Film Festival
Winner - Award of Merit, 2011 Best Shorts Competition
Winner - Best "Open" Film, 2012 The MIX International Short Film Festival
Runner Up - Best Short Film, 2012 Warrambeen Film Festival (AUS)
Runner Up - Best Super Short, 2011 Anchorage International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Seattle International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Sedona International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Charleston International Film Festival
Official Selection -- 2012 Edmonton International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 AMC Kansas City Filmmaker Jubilee
Official Selection - 2012 Ashland Independent Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Spokane International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Big Island Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Byron Bay International Film Festival (AUS)
Official Selection - 2012 Garden State Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Omaha Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Durango Independent Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Fort Myers Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 LA Film + Music Weekend
Official Selection - 2012 Buffalo-Niagara International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Myrtle Beach International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival "Night of Award Winning Shorts"
Official Selection - 2012 Rushes Soho Shorts (UK)
Official Selection - 2012 Carolina Film and Video Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Big Easy International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Fargo Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Westchester Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Humboldt Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Derby City International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Macon Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 High Desert Short International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Spirit Quest Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Crested Butte Film Festival
Official Selection - 2012 Couch Fest
Official Selection - 2012 Tumblweed Film Festival
Official Selection - 2011 Lone Star International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2011 River's Edge International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2011 Northern California Film Festival
Official Selection - 2011 San Diego Christian Film Festival
Official Selection - 2011 Coney Island Film Festival
Official Selection - 2011 Director's Circle Short Film Awards
Official Selection - 2011 Wanderings Film Festival
Official Selection - 2011 California International Short Film Festival
Official Selection - 2011 Asheville Cinema Festival

I attended the talk between Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. John McCain at the Sedona Forum

Washington, DC -- The McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University today announced that Vice President Joe Biden will participate in a conversation with U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) during the opening dinner of the Institute's annual Sedona Forum this Friday, April 26th in Sedona, Arizona.

A story on the talk will appear in the Wednesday, May 1, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.

"We at Arizona State University are proud to have Vice President Biden and so many other distinguished leaders involved with the McCain Institute," said Arizona State University President Michael M. Crow. "Their participation in the Sedona Forum ensures a thought-provoking weekend."

The Sedona Forum is an annual, high-level conclave of national and international leaders from the public and private sectors brought together by the McCain Institute for focused discussions on national security and foreign policy issues, promoting economic freedom and prosperity and advancing human rights around the world.

"I am very pleased that Vice President Joe Biden, my friend of many years, will speak at this year’s Sedona Forum," said Senator John McCain. "From his decades of experience in foreign policy in the Senate to his critical role in the White House today, Vice President Biden has a unique perspective on America's role in this complex and dangerous world. We are pleased that he is joining this important gathering in Sedona and look forward to hearing from him."

The theme for this year's Forum, held April 26-28 at the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona, is, "How Can We Promote Freedom and Democracy Effectively?" Participants in this year's Forum will include GE Chairman and CEO and McCain Institute Board Member Jeff Immelt, Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon, Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay, former Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, former Belarus Presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, former NBA star and humanitarian Dikembe Mutombo, General Jack Keane (Ret.), Arizona State University President Michael M. Crow, Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jon Kyl (R-AZ, Ret.), Joe Lieberman (I-CT, Ret.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), among many others.

National Poetry Month: Valence performs "Tonight"

Tyler “Valence” Sirvinskas is a performance poet and new media artist based in Arizona. Spoken word, performance art, electronic music, and visual art are all elements of Valence’s artistic vision. In 2011, he began competing in poetry slams, and represented Flagstaff at the 2011 National Poetry Slam. In 2012, he won the Sedona Grand Slam and a spot on Sedona’s National slam team.

Valence has lived in Arizona for eight years, but was born in and spent his childhood in Chicago. Part of the last generation to know first-hand what life was like before the internet, Valence is grateful for anything that makes people turn off their smartphones.

In the future, Valence has plans for touring, albums, books, and a new style of performance art that combines spoken word with live video and music. At only twenty-two years of age, his creative development has only begun.

At only 21 years of age, his creative development has only begun.

Like Valence and performance poetry? 

Donate to "Holy Spoken Word," Necessary Poetry's 1st Anthology:

A multimedia anthology, showcasing the amazing writing, artwork, and spoken-word performance of the Necessary Poetry collective, a group of poets from Sedona, Flagstaff and Prescott.



Click here to help support our efforts on Kickstarter. A donation of even $10 or $20 gets us closer to our goal of our first publication and establishment of a nonprofit spoken word collective open to all.

National Poetry Month: Ashley Swazey performs "Invincible"

Ashley Swazey is an aspiring wedding photographer studying photography at Northern Arizona University. She’s 19 and has been writing angst poetry before she was a teenager. She has her own photography business and loves to sing, sew, and create.

Fun fact: Swazey made her own prom dress. She’s obsessed with seafoam green and has obnoxiously red hair that bleeds in the shower.

She went to Arizona State University for a year and a half, before realizing she hated everything about it.

Another fun fact: Swazey has a pet snake.

She hopes to live in Seattle when she grows up and she wants to adopt a baby from Africa.

Swazey’s mother is a flight attendant so she can fly anywhere practically for free. She likes to brag about having been to Ireland, London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Austria, Prague, Czech Republic, and Germany.

Last fun fact: Swazey is often told she resembles Julia Styles, a comment she detests.

Swazey is very involved in the speech and debate scene, having participated for two years in high school and coached for a year and a half in college. This is where she discovered the art of slam poetry.

She began writing and performing her own poems in competition, which is incidentally completely against the rules. But she only lives once.

Like Ashley Swazey and performance poetry? 

Donate to "Holy Spoken Word," Necessary Poetry's 1st Anthology:

A multimedia anthology, showcasing the amazing writing, artwork, and spoken-word performance of the Necessary Poetry collective, a group of poets from Sedona, Flagstaff and Prescott.



Click here to help support our efforts on Kickstarter. A donation of even $10 or $20 gets us closer to our goal of our first publication and establishment of a nonprofit spoken word collective open to all.

National Poetry Month: Verbal Kensington performs "Earthquakes"

With a background ranging the spectrum from accounting to pyrotechnics, Meg (Verbal) Kensington shamelessly abandoned her previous brainchild, Verballistics, to step into her role as Necessary Publishing’s Creative Director. She’s also a writer, poet, artist, and mentor. Others know her as a verbal mercenary, with an uncanny knack for organization. Her most valued achievements include the ability to speak unabashedly in the third person, the precise calculation of road-trip gas mileage in her beloved vintage Subaru, and the unobtrusive creation of an amazing array of late-night snacks. She aspires to become more like her favorite animal, the platypus – the only earthly creature who is both astonishingly cuddly, and horrendously poisonous.

With her unique combination of extreme intelligence and stunning good looks, she plans to one day take over the world – starting today, with Necessary Publishing.

Like Verbal Kensington and performance poetry? 

Donate to "Holy Spoken Word," Necessary Poetry's 1st Anthology:

A multimedia anthology, showcasing the amazing writing, artwork, and spoken-word performance of the Necessary Poetry collective, a group of poets from Sedona, Flagstaff and Prescott.



Click here to help support our efforts on Kickstarter. A donation of even $10 or $20 gets us closer to our goal of our first publication and establishment of a nonprofit spoken word collective open to all.