Saturday, December 15, 2012

Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif., wins the third Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam season.

Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif., won the third Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 1.

Calibration: Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff

Round 1

Random Draw

Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 23.9, 2:40

Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 24.9, 2:34

Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 28.4, 2:46

Robert Gonzales, of Flagstaff, 21.3, 2:00

Jasmine "Jazz" Wilkerson Sufi, of Santa Cruz, Calif., 25.9, 3:00

Joy Young, of Phoenix, 25.8, 2:20

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 25.7, 3:06

Lynn Gravatt, of Sedona, 27.3, 2:00

Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif., 29.9, 2:51

Charles Levett, of Phoenix, 26.5, 2:34

Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 27.5, 1:09

The Klute, of Phoenix, 29.2, 3:04

Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix, 29.3, 2:24

Teaser: Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif.

Round 2

Reverse Order

Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix, 27.7, 2:57, 57.0
The Klute, of Phoenix, 30.0, 2:28, 59.2
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 28.2, 1:58, 55.7
Charles Levett, of Phoenix, 25.5, 2:04, 52.0
Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif., 29.5, 2:24, 55.3
Lynn Gravatt, of Sedona, 23.5, 1:50, 50.8
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 26.3, 2:47, 52.0
Joy Young, of Phoenix, 26.3, 2:26, 52.1
Jasmine "Jazz" Wilkerson Sufi, of Santa Cruz, Calif., (29.1) 28.6 after 0.5 point time penalty, 3:11, 54.5
Robert Gonzales, of Flagstaff, 25.8, 2:54, 47.1
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 30.0, 2:50,58.4
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 26.6, 2:30, 51.5
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 25.5, 2:22, 49.4

Sorbet: Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff

Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif., featured at the Sedona Poetry Slam on
Saturday, Dec. 1.

Feature: Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif.

Round 3

High to Low

Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif., 30.0, 2:58, 89.4
The Klute, of Phoenix, 29.0, 3:00, 88.2
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 29.4, 3:04, 87.8
Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix, 29.7, 2:51, 86.7
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 29.3, 2:30, 85.0

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona,"Never Date a Poet: A Public Service Announcement"

Victory: Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif.,

Final Scores
Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif., 89.4

The Klute, of Phoenix, 88.2

Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 87.8

Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix, 86.7
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 85.0

Special thanks to Jazz Sufi, for coming with Leo and Jordan and bringing her
talents to the Sedona stage and placing 6th overall.

Jasmine "Jazz" Wilkerson Sufi, of Santa Cruz, Calif., 54.5
Joy Young, of Phoenix, 26.3, 2:26, 52.1
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 52.0
Charles Levett, of Phoenix, 52.0
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 26.6, 2:30, 51.5
Lynn Gravatt, of Sedona, 50.8
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 25.5, 2:22, 49.4
Robert Gonzales, of Flagstaff, 47.1

Scorekeeper: Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff
Cameraman: Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Slamoff Point Standings

7 Points

Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff✓

The Klute, of Phoenix

5 Points

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff✓

4 Points

Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff

Joy Young, of Phoenix

Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif.✓

3 Points

Charles Levett, of Phoenix

Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff

2 Points

Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff

Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood

Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix

Lauren Perry, of Phoenix

Lynn Gravatt, of Sedona

1.5 Points

Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff

Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff

1 Point

Ashley Swazey, of Phoenix

Bill Campana, of Mesa

Gary Every, of Sedona

Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.

Jackie Stockwell, of Flagstaff

Jasmine "Jazz" Sufi Wilkerson of Santa Cruz, Calif.

Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif.

Lauren Deja, of Phoenix

Little Blue Lyon-Fish, of Phoenix

nodalone, of Las Vegas

Robert Gonzales, of Flagstaff

Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix

Vincent Vega, of Flagstaff

0.5 Points

Valence, of Flagstaff

✓ = won a Sedona Poetry Slam

"In the Blood" by Christopher Fox Graham

"In the Blood"

by Christopher Fox Graham

Fair warning,
you die first.

"...written with his own blood" by Janina-Photography

I know, you’re thinking that with all my whiskey nights
I’d cease the fight first
but fate plays dice —
my eulogy isn’t profound, but between us
it’s the only poem worth all the blood I’ve verbalized
my heart beats after yours
because I never could imagine the world without you
so you had to show me the hard way
even this old, I’m still chasing you
like I did at the beginning

— 10 —

Our daughters visit one by one
find me holding one hand
while a machine holds the other
beeping,
beeping,
beeping
with clockwork regularity
counting down the heartbeats you have left —
I read you 60 years of blood poured into poems
“The Peach” still makes you laugh

— 9 —

We send our son a message to the colony on Mars
he can never visit,
when he boarded the shuttle
we knew it was a one way trip
I tell him to hold his sons tonight
gaze across the terrain
and remember that the red in his blood
is deeper and darker
binding him forever to home

— 8 —
On the first day of our retirement
we burn all your business cards
and all my button-down white shirts —
we make love in the kitchen like horny teenagers
I later find your red underwear in the sink —
the pasta boils over and burns the pot
so we feed it to the neighbors’ dog
you hate the neighbors
but like the dog

— 7 —
after my wedding toast,
I swing dance with our youngest daughter at the reception
because I save all my slow dances for you
rest my hand in the small of your back
kiss your crimson lips like the first time
when we get to our empty nest,
we split a bottle of Jameson
and wake cuddling each other’s pounding hangovers

— 6 —
you get almost leave me three times
the first two are admittedly my fault —
I don’t learn about the third until years later
when your reasons have faded to such silliness
you laugh when you tell me why
I buy red roses for a month anyway

— 5 —
in the Red Chair Hotel lounge in Prague
we hold hands
not saying a word
and for an hour
no one else enters
that was the moment —
the one I’d hold onto
when asked,
“what was the best day of your life?”

— 4 —
By the last one, you’re a pro —
but you leave my arm bruised
when our first child is born
one fingernail drew blood
and the scar is my joy
that I became a father

— 3 —
the proposal was unexpected
I stood on the stage
performing a poem you’d heard before
but you noticed two lines changed
and midway through, a new stanza flipped the meaning
before I dropped to a knee and asked
the time penalty cost me points
and the other poets called you a “prop”
but we got four 10s and a red heart
when you said "yes"

— 2 —
I apologize for our third date
everything goes wrong
the restaurant is terrible
you kiss me so deep I get hiccups
the sex is sloppy
I cut my hand changing the flat tire
so the first time you say it
I am staring at the bloody bandage
wondering about stitches
so I have to ask, “what do you say?!”

— 1 —
I small talk
to mask my skipping heart
although I can’t tell if you like me
when you finally ask me out
blood rushes from my fingers and toes
leaving me warmly cold

but all the way home
I think how the first poem
should start at the end
and work backward
so the only mistake I’ll ever regret
was waiting so long to begin

Friday, December 14, 2012

"Telephone" by Owen Davis and Eugene Brosseau, performed by Jess Ryan and Christopher Fox Graham

"TELEPHONE for solo piano and mixed media" from Owen Davis on Vimeo.

Poet Christopher Fox Graham, left, composer Owen Davis, pianist Jess Ryan,
and poet Eugene Brosseau at Northern Arizona University's Ashurst
Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 8.

In collaboration with visual artist and poet Eugene Brosseau, "TELEPHONE" is a piano solo commissioned by Jess Ryan in 2012. Using the sounds of live and prerecorded telephones along with spoken word poetry, this work aims to integrate the entire performance space and audience into the music. The video serves as a montage of information and the full performance at Ashurst Auditorium at Northern Arizona University on Saturday, Dec. 8.
For more information on the work, please contact: owendavismusic@gmail.com

What I do is use one cell phone to call another, put them both on speaker, and place them earpiece to mouthpiece to create a feedback loop, which grows louder. By the third portion, it sounds like digital crickets, which coincides with Brosseau's line "holding it tight as crickets call from under the back porch."

"Telephone"

By Eugene Brosseau

This whole thing started as a conversation
but has turned to so much noise that neither of us can hear the other

as if the words themselves were now the meaning
and the only virtue of silence is its contrast to such incessant discord

I can barely tell your voice from mine as we run together unaware in wasted words

our minds made unclear by the now hoarse voices we hurl at the walls of each other's holdings

I know passion must play a part and I suffer for not recognizing yours
and yet I insist on trying
at first to convince you
and then to drown you out

unwilling to refuse myself I beat you about the ears while I persist in covering my own

but I am beginning to feel that I want something better

I want a revelation

BREAK

Some strand of hope must be running through this
something vital coming over the lines

I can feel it under my bare feet as I run through you like a puddle

splashing as I go to make you feel my waves
which are all reduced to ripples

when
if ever we stop
can we listen to the silence
and find something in common there

there is where we could live

in the stillness on the line

we could walk into that silence
like a Baptist into a river
with all our armor off
complete and unrevealed
and wash away this enmity and dread

BREAK

Are you there

I can hear you breathing
please don’t hang up
stay on until I fall asleep

you can tell me what you see when your eyes are closed and I'll just listen
holding the empty can to my ear while the string hums

holding it tight as crickets call from under the back porch
and the stars are coming out in the purple sky
and the pine trees send their comfort on the cool air
through the screen window into my room
where I lie on my bed legs crossed

listening to your words

humming on the string

into the empty can

pressed against my ear

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Josh Wiss wins the second Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam season

Josh Wiss wins the second Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam season, held Nov. 17, at Studio Live in West Sedona.

Josh Wiss of Flagstaff and Phoenix, wins the second Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam season

Round 1

Random Draw

** Unfortunately, I saved over the November slam's scores with the December slam's scores. From the video, I was able to rebuild the later half of the slam, but the first half of the slam only has the poems, not the scores. Where applicable, I have the scores listed. **
Calibration: Valence, of Phoenix
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 22.5
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff
Charles Levett, of Phoenix
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 24.5
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff
Gary Every, of Sedona
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Leo, of Camp Verde
Joy Young, of Phoenix
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff
The Klute, of Phoenix

Teaser: Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.

Round 2

Reverse Order

The Klute, of Phoenix
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff
Joy Young, of Phoenix
Leo, of Camp Verde
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Gary Every, of Sedona
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff, 24.0
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 27.9
Charles Levett, of Phoenix, 25.1
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff, voluntarily disqualified for peforming Shane Hawley cover poem
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 28.7

Slam poet Houston Hughes from Fayetteville, Ark., featured at Sedona's Studio Live
on Saturday, Nov. 17

Feature: Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of "Oil & Deep Water, Part II: Étouffée"

Round 3

High to Low

Joy Young, of Phoenix, 26.3, 79.7
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 26.9, 79.3
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 28.7, 80.8
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 28.5, 79.7
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff, 28.7, 77.6

Tied for second place at 79.7, Joy Young, of Phoenix, beat Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, in a Haiku Death Match.

Victory: Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff

Final Scores
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 80.8
Joy Young, of Phoenix, 79.7 (2nd after Haiku Death Match)
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 79.7 (3rd after Haiku Death Match)
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 79.3
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff, 77.6

The Klute, of Phoenix

Leo, of Camp Verde
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Gary Every, of Sedona
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff

Charles Levett, of Phoenix
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff

Scorekeeper: Jackie Stockwell, of Flagstaff
Camerawoman: Azami, of Sedona

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Slamoff Point Standings

6 points

Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff ✓

4 points

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff ✓
The Klute, of Phoenix
3 points

Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff

Joy Young, of Phoenix
2 points

Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Charles Levett, of Phoenix
Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona
1 point

Ashley Swazey, of Phoenix
Gary Every, of Sedona
Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.
Jackie Stockwell, of Flagstaff
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff
Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff
Lauren Deja, of Phoenix
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix
Little Blue Lyon-Fish, of Phoenix
Lynn Gravatt, of Sedona
nodalone, of Las Vegas
Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff

0.5 points
Vincent Vega, of Flagstaff

✓ = won a Sedona Poetry Slam

Flagstaff's Sundara Poetry Slam featured on NAZ Today

"Flagstaff's poetry slams give local poets the opportunity to showcase their talents to an audience and have their work scored by judges. NAZ Today photographer's Derek Ellis and Alex Thomas took us there to find out more about what goes down at the slam."

Featuring interviews with Sundara manager, poet and host John Quinonez, poet Jackson Morris and poet Maya Hall and snippets of poems by me and lots of Sundara's regular.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Sedona Poetry Slam is today at 7:30 p.m.

Sedona's Studio Live hosts a poetry slam today, Saturday, Dec. 1, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring poet Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif., and hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham.

Tickets are $12

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. The prize is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporter Jeanne Freeland.

The slam is the third of the 2012-13 season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's second National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., in August.

The local poets will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression. Sedona sent its five-poet first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C.

Jordan Ranft

Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif., features at the Sedona Poetry Slam at
Studio Live on Saturday, Dec. 1.

Ranft loves poetry. He loves writing it, and he loves performing it. In the few years he has been practicing his craft he has taken the scene by storm. First starting performance career out in Colorado Jordan placed several times at the Mercury Cafe Slam in Denver.

Now residing in northern California he has performed all over the San Francisco Bay rea, won multiple slams, and has featured at several big events including the Northbay Poetry Slam, Desert Rocks Music Festival and the San Francisco How Weird Street fair. He derives his poetry from personal struggle and growth. His main goal is to be true to himself while putting on the most entertaining show he possibly can.

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

Charles Levett, Joy Young, The Klute, Lynn Gravatt, Evan Dissinger, Jackson Morris, Tyler Sirvinskas aka Valence, Jasmine Wilkerson Sufi, Leo Bryant, Ryan Brown, Joshua Wiss, Lauren Perry, Maya Hall, Jeremiah Blue and Ian are scheduled to slam.

What is Poetry Slam?

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

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

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 their audience with their creativity.

2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between September and May. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1.

Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Boston. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

For poetry slam standings, videos from past slams, and updates, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.

Tickets are $12 the day of the event, at the door and online at studiolivesedona.com.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona. For more information, call (928) 282-2688.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

"No Gravity," by Brian Omni Dillon

My favorite poem from the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., was Brian Omni Dillon's "No Gravity." This is an awesomely well-done video performance of that piece.

"For Eliza (No Gravity)"

Performed & Written by Brian Omni Dillon

Shot & Edited by Sean Gallagher

Music by Thom O'Connor
www.IntangibleCollective.com

"No Gravity,"

By Brian Omni Dillon

For Eliza, No Gravity

The tenth girl after you is how I found myself saying these things. Her hands are smaller. She smells different, but her eyes are planets, like yours. I am reminded of what it was like to first love you every time her mouth opens. Every inch of it is a mural in neon. A symphony of paint and torch.

The ninth girl after you is prettier than she needs to be and she knows it. She'd only kiss me in the corner and still slash out the bulb with a switch of black hair. She doesn't deserve me.

The eighth girl is pornography. She's clit-ring, cocaine, bar-fight. She’s the filthy you. The one desperate to save us in our last months sharing a home. Her face is trampoline, her chest is an airbag. She got as much respect in the end as you did.

The seventh girl after you is a decade my senior. She's a bright light in a mineshaft. Her face is a poppy plant and she kisses me like she’d swallowed the still-living wrist of an addict. We are elephants feasting on bush meat to survive the drought.

The sixth girl after you is a totem. An east-river biplane on the fourth of July. She always wears black like shes seducing the scythe. Always on the way to another funeral. Her body is a comic book. Her skirts are wreaths of flames. You loved her poetry. So does everyone else.

The fifth girl after you is Egypt-thick. She is jeans to the ankles in the bathroom. She is vomit in the bedsheets. She sucks dick like her life depends on it and it might.

The fourth girl after you is an angel. She didn’t mean anything by it. Like you, shes in love now. She's square-peg, square hole. Like you, she wont answer my texts.

The third girl after you a mother, like you are now. And I don't flinch and sputter when she shows me photos of hers like I do with photos of yours. She and I never slept inside of one another. Never argued playfully about how early I could teach her sons to ice skate. It was wine, it was sloppy, it was stupid and it was temporary.

The second girl after you is a panther punched against the wall by the crack of lighting. A white light artery in the midnight’s arm. She is so small and dirty I wear her under a thumbnail. Every inch of friction in our laps was another syllable in a goodbye note. I am the suicide calling the car crash an accident. I'm the whiskey breath and the wheel. I am the indent her teeth left in her bottom lip. I'm a reason to cut yourself.

The first girl after you was a cake-shaped wound in your thigh. She's the reason your sons were named incorrectly. The reason they won’t have my hair. The reason I won't be invited to a wedding that I'd just ruin in a spill of bourbon. Your sons are beautiful. Your eyes are planets. I'm a fucking spaceman. No gravity. Your eyes are planets. And your sons should be grateful for them.

2011 © Brian Omni Dillon

Photo by Jonathan Weiskopf

Brian Omni Dillon

Brian Omni Dillon is a performance poet, author, educator, and organizer from New York City. Currently a professor of performance poetry at New York University's Gallatin School, he is also the fourth-ranked slam poet in the world and a writer-in-residence at the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe.

In 2011 Dillon finished in second place alongside his Nuyorican teammates at the National Poetry Slam in Boston, Mass. His debut novel "Eat The Rich" was published in the winter of 2011 by DefWords Press.

He has served as a guest host and featured poet on the world renowned Indiefeed performance poetry podcast numerous times. In his free-time, Dillon is an aficionado of youth ice hockey, designer lighting and bad music.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Jordan Ranft features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Dec. 1

Sedona's Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Dec. 1, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring poet Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif., and hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham.

Tickets are $10 in advance through Nov. 30, $12 on Dec. 1.

(The $2 discount appears at checkout).

Jordan Ranft

Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif., features at the Sedona Poetry Slam at
Studio Live on Saturday, Dec. 1.

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

Contact Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam.

What is Poetry Slam?

2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between September and May. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1.

Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Boston. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

For poetry slam standings, videos from past slams, and updates, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona. For more information, call (928) 282-2688.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Buy your tickets now for the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Nov. 17

Click here to buy your tickets now.

(Tickets appear as $12, but a $2 discount for early purchase is added at checkout)

Poets compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. The prize is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporter Jeanne Freeland.

The slam is the first of the 2012-13 season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's second National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., in August.

The local poets will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Sedona sent its five-poet first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C.

Sedona's Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Nov. 17, starting at
7:30 p.m. featuring poet Houston Hughes from Fayetteville, Ark.

Houston Hughes

Houston Hughes was introduced to poetry slam in 2006, and by 2010 had made finals stage at the Individual World Poetry Slam, placing him among the top 12 performance poets in the world.

In the time in between, he won individual recognition at the 2008 College Union Poetry Slam Invitational tournament, led the Hendrix College team to win the Region 12 championship in 2009, and has been part of the Ozark Poetry Slam team for two years.

Hughes has toured across the country and has opened for a variety nationally known acts such as Saul Williams and Otep.

Hughes currently resides in Fayetteville, Ark., where he is part of the planning committee for IWPS 2012.

For more on Hughes, visit:
www.HoustonHughes.tk
www.reverbnation.com/PoetryByHouston
www.facebook.com/PoetryByHouston

Sedona Poetry Slam

To compete in the slam, poets prepare 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 Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on six FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2012.

In no particular order, the poets for Saturday are Jeremiah Blue, Charles Levett, Jackson Morris, Bert Cisneros, Joshua Wiss, Gabrielle Lee, The Klute, Joy Young, Evan Dissinger, Maya Hall, Gary Every, Valence and Austin Reeves. Sorbet: Jackie Stockwell. Calibration: Josh Floyd and Taylor Hayes. The list is currently full, but seats are still available, click here to buy your tickets now.

What is Poetry Slam?

2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team

Last year, five poets represented Sedona at the week-long National
Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C. In August 2013, NPS will be held in
Boston and Cambridge, Mass. Will you be among them? Or will you
help choose who represents Red Rock Country in Beantown?

Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between September and May. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1.

Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Boston. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

For poetry slam standings, videos from past slams, and updates, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

Click here to buy your tickets now.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona. For more information, call (928) 282-2688.

"Verballistics: Issue 1" awesome digital zine published three of my poems

My friend Verbal Kensington in Flagstaff has just published her first zine anthology, "Verballistics: Issue 1" featuring poetry, art and prose from artists all over the country.

The online version is wicked cool. Every poem and prose piece is paired with art to complement it and with this tool bar you can move around and zoom in, just like you were looking at a real print edition:

And for any page turned on its side, hit the eye to view it right side up.

Three of my poems are include, "They Held Hands," "To the Planet Formerly Known as Pluto," and "Ragnarok." The photo for "Ragnarok" includes an image of Mathias Rust landing his plane in Red Square.

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

"Verballistics: is a publishing endeavor which, like poetry itself, defies definition. We believe that life is poetry, and we are all poets. We promote work which blends the lines between art and literature, and pushes the boundaries of traditional publishing. Our contributors have a message to share with the world - whether it's a shout from the mountaintops, or a whispered secret which somehow cradles the universal in us all. We are devoted to the artistry of language. We celebrate the experimental. We honor the linguistic lexicon, and the vernacular virtuoso. We'd love to help you Get Verbal!"

The publication includes a copy of my poem, "They Held Hands:"

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Fire dancing and the Names of Trees

For a Dia de los Muertos performance at Tlaquepaque in Sedona with the Sedona Sacred Circus fire troupe, of which Azami is a fire dancer. A trio began the poem acting like monkeys and wild animals until one discovered how to use fire, like the rest of the dancers and spun fire for the rest of the poem. Bradley Blalock, Vusi Shibambo and James Turner performed percussion with Jason Vargo on sound.

Kyle, Lynn and Azami of the Sedona Sacred Circus perform in Tlaquepaque for Dia de los Muertos.

The Names of Trees

before we named the trees
we feared the dark
ran from the shadows
monsters stalked us
in daytime’s tall grasses
and nighttime’s nightmares

we feared fire most of all
it ate the unnamed trees alive
its breath choked the beasts we hunted
we could not hold it
and could not fight it
just fear it

but one of us
The First of us
saw an infant spark
and treated it like a child
she learned to wield it
our first tool
brought it into the caves
and taught us not to fear
but use it
to chase away the monsters

fire is always the same
because a flame is never the same
from moment to moment
by always changing
the flame never changes

with fire
we learned to control the shadows
we danced them onto cave walls
where we trapped the monsters in ocher and ash

we used the fire to keep the beasts away in the night
to cook the bounty gathered from the earth
and roast our meat from the day’s hunt

and with bellies full
in the glow of the fire
we learned language
around campfires
as our elders told stories
of their young days long passed
they told us the names of trees:
oak
ash
banyan
pine
bodhi
fir
palm
cedar
sugi
cypress
they spoke of the strong mothers who raised them
the great hunts of their brave fathers
how they leaned ways to teach us these things

they told us
of ancestors who had long since turned to bones
and were now dust
who had sprinkled themselves across the heavens
to watch over us
always
glowing in the dark
like flames in the night

when the fire in their own hearts
began to flicker
they asked us to built fires to mourn their death
help ascend their bodies
so they could watch over us from new stars
alongside their ancestors

around the fire
we learned to structure nouns and verbs
into rhythm and beat
rhyme and stanza
turning the articulation of breath
the staccato of consonants
the tone and pitch of air in living lungs
into the art of poetry
stories we could pass from generation to generation
long after the first lungs to hold them
were silent beneath the dirt
we still tell some of those stories
passing along the poetry
of heroes
who are no longer bones
no longer dust
but vapor in the wind

around the fire
we passed on what we had learned
to the children who would mourn us
consider these frail lifeless bones still sacred
because they once held them
in their infancy

long after our bones turned to dust
and the dust turned to vapor
and the vapor exhaled by something new
they would remember … us
in the stories around the fire

a ribbon of flesh and fire
tied us to the infant spark
that The First one of us
held without fear

fire is always the same
because a flame is never the same
from moment to moment
by always changing
the flame never changes

it is consumption and combustion
a moment of reaction
between earth and air
the tangible and ethereal
in a spark of life
never the same from one second the next

nothing is eternal but change
so our civilizations learn to adapt
like tongues of flame
growing together or apart
rising and falling
expanding and shrinking
dancing in a campfire

we sometimes forget that lesson
so our empires defy it
our monuments stand against it
our great cities are abandoned
for new homes
Sumeria
is now just artifacts
Assyria
has become Scrabble word
31 dynasties ruled Egypt,
each falling to the next
the dream of Rome
became a dream again
the sun never set on the British Empire
until the day it did
and young America too
will grow old into history books
but the fire will still be the same
because a flame is never the same
from moment to moment

even now
in the glow of digital screens
behind the wheel of combustion engines
or miles above the earth
in steel aircraft
or space stations
we are still mesmerized by the flame
we gather around fireplaces on holidays
remembering the ancient reasons for things
we light wax candles for dead loved ones
hoping whispered words
might rise to their ears in the heavens
where they watch us
alongside ancestors

we find ourselves
still captivated by campfires
staring into them
unable to look away sometimes
while we tell stories
just like we used to
when home
wasn’t made from stone and brick
or animal skins from last year’s hunt
but the warmest cave
on our nomadic trek
following the herds
teaching our children
the names of trees

some day
when we no longer fear the dark
a descendant of the flame that first warmed us
as we lay dreaming of stars
will help send a few of us
beyond the reach of Earth
never again to see this home
more will follow
using flickers of fire
to pass the boundaries
break the laws of gravity
that we will refuse to obey any longer
and sail across the night
unafraid of the monsters we left behind
trapped on cave walls beneath ocher and ash
they will make their homes
on marbles of every color
swirling in the dusty arms of space
and in the wildernesses of new worlds
they will name new trees
tell stories around campfires of ancestors
strong mothers
brave fathers

fire is always the same
because a flame is never the same
from moment to moment
by always changing
the flame never changes

some day
when “human”
means something else entirely
and whomever we become
sails on the winds of supernovas
finds no fear exploring black holes
the last place darkness can hide from us

they may communicate the poetry quasars and quarks
with the same beauty as verbs and nouns
but still stare at the surface of suns
and without explanation why
know the fire burning before them
is still wonderful to witness
because in the glimmer of a memory
dancing with the arithmetic of orbiting atoms
and the geometry of galaxies
they can feel something deep in their bones
tying them like a ribbon of flesh and flame across time
to a tiny world
whose name they have forgotten
or can no longer pronounce
and remember
somehow,
ancestors who wielded an infant spark
to no longer fear monsters or the dark
but listen around the first campfire
to poetry
and stories
and the names of trees

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Houston Hughes features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Nov. 17

Houston Hughes features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Nov. 17

Sedona's Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Nov. 17, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring Fayetteville, Ark., poet Houston Hughes and hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. The prize is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporter Jeanne Freeland.

The slam is the first of the 2012-13 season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's second National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., in August. (Assuming, of course, the Mayans don't destroy the world in December 2012. Or the Québécois in January 2013. If you thought the Mayan calendar was apocalyptic, just wait until the Québécois get their shot ....)

The local poets will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Sedona sent its five-poet first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C.

Sedona's Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Nov. 17, starting at
7:30 p.m. featuring poet Houston Hughes from Fayetteville, Ark.