Friday, October 19, 2018
Aaron Norris (1969-2018)
Aaron Norris (1969-2018) was one of the poets in FlagSlam's inaugural year, and competed at the first FlagSlam Poetry Grand Slam in 2001. He died last week from a heroin overdose.
Poeta vade loquere ad mortuos.
Monday, October 1, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
Predict when our daughter will be born
Our pediatricians say our daughter's due date is Saturday, June 9. Laura has had a smooth pregnancy with no complications. This will be our first child.
On what date do you predict our daughter, Athena Zelda Nebula Skye Sylvia Diana Fox Graham, will actually be born?
On what date do you predict our daughter, Athena Zelda Nebula Skye Sylvia Diana Fox Graham, will actually be born?
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Sedona hosts Last Chance Poetry Slam on Saturday, May 26
The Sedona Poetry Slam bring high-energy, competition spoken word to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre for the "Last Chance Slam" on Saturday, May 26, at 7:30 p.m.
The Last Chance Slam on May 26 is be the final opportunity for poets who want to qualify for the 2018 Grand Slam.
All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. To compete in the slam, poets will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted. The poets are judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.
A poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays, judged by the audience. Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain and inspire the audience with their creativity.
Poets in the Sedona Poetry Slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School.
The first six slams of the season were held Nov. 4, Dec. 16, Dec. 30, Feb. 3, April 7 and May 5, won by Lauren Perry, M.C. Tristan Marshall, Bernard "The Klute" Schober, Josh Wiss and Kim Jarchow and Ryan Smalley, respectively. The final open slam of the season will be at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. SR 89A, Suite A-3, in West Sedona, on Saturday May 26.
 |
| The Klute won the Dec. 30 Sedona Poetry Slam |
The 2017-18 season will culminate in selection of Sedona's seventh National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent Sedona and the Verde Valley at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
With every regular slam, poets earn points toward a slot in the Grand Slam, on Saturday, June 9. The poets who make the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team at the final contest will represent Sedona and share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe at the week-long National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
Sedona sent its first team to the 2012 NPS in Charlotte, N.C., its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and its third and fourth to Oakland, Calif., its fifth to Decatur, Ga., and its sixth to Denver. For more information, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.
The prize money is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporters Jeanne and Jim Freeland.
Contact host Christopher Fox Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam early by Friday, May 25, or arrive at the door by 7 p.m. to sign up the day of the slam. Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive. The Sedona Poetry Slam will be hosted by Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on 10 FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004-06, 2010 and 2012-17. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.
What is Poetry Slam?
Founded at the Green Mill Tavern in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport designed to get people who would otherwise never go to a poetry reading excited about the art form when it becomes a high-energy competition. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets' contents and performances. Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe. Slam poets have opened at the 2010 Winter Olympics, performed at the White House and at the United Nations General Assembly and were featured on "Russell Simmon's Def Poets" on HBO.
For more information, visit poetryslam.com or the PSi channel on YouTube.
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Sedona Poetry Slam hosts slam Saturday, May 5
All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. To compete in the slam, poets will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted. The poets are judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.
A poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays, judged by the audience. Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a “slam” poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain and inspire the audience with their creativity.
Poets in the Sedona Poetry Slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School.
 |
| Kim Jarchow won the Sedona Poetry Slam on April 7 |
Tickets are $12. For tickets, call 282-1177 or visit SedonaFilmFestival.org.
The 2017-18 season will culminate in selection of Sedona’s seventh National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent Sedona and the Verde Valley at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
The Last Chance Slam on May 26 will be the final opportunity for poets who want to qualify for the 2018 Grand Slam. With every regular slam, poets earn points toward a slot in the Grand Slam, on Saturday, June 9. The poets who make the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team at the final contest will represent Sedona and share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe at the week-long National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
Sedona sent its first team to the 2012 NPS in Charlotte, N.C., its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and its third and fourth to Oakland, Calif., its fifth to Decatur, Ga., and its sixth to Denver. For more information, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.
The prize money is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporters Jeanne and Jim Freeland.
Contact host Christopher Fox Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam early by Friday, May 4, or arrive at the door by 7 p.m. to sign up the day of the slam. Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive. The Sedona Poetry Slam will be hosted by Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on 10 FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004-06, 2010 and 2012-17. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.
What is Poetry Slam?
Founded at the Green Mill Tavern in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport designed to get people who would otherwise never go to a poetry reading excited about the art form when it becomes a high-energy competition. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets’ contents and performances. Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe. Slam poets have opened at the 2010 Winter Olympics, performed at the White House and at the United Nations General Assembly and were featured on "Russell Simmon's Def Poets" on HBO.
For more information, visit poetryslam.com or the PSi channel on YouTube.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Mary D. Fisher Theater hosts Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, April 7
The Sedona Poetry Slam bring high-energy, competition spoken word to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre on Saturday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m.
A poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays, judged by the audience. Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists.
All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain and inspire the audience with their creativity.
Poets in the Sedona Poetry Slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School.
The first four slams of the season were held Nov. 4, Dec. 16, Dec. 30 and Feb. 3, won by Lauren Perry, M.C. Tristan Marshall, Bernard "The Klute" Schober and Josh Wiss, respectively. The next two slams will be at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. SR 89A, Suite A-3, in West Sedona, on Saturdays May 5 and May 26.
 |
Bernard "The Klute" Schober reads his victory poem after winning the third
Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2017-18 season on Dec. 30 at the Mary D. Fisher
Theatre. The next Sedona Poetry Slam takes place Saturday, April, at
7:30 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre.
|
The 2017-18 season will culminate in selection of Sedona's seventh National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent Sedona and the Verde Valley at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
The Last Chance Slam on May 26 will be the final opportunity for poets who want to qualify for the 2018 Grand Slam. With every regular slam, poets earn points toward a slot in the Grand Slam, on Saturday, June 9.
The poets who make the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team at the final contest will represent Sedona and share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe at the week-long National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
 |
Lauren Perry won the first Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2017-18 season
on Nov. 4 at the Sedona Arts Center. The next Sedona Poetry Slam
takes place Saturday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher
Theatre.
|
The prize money is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporters Jeanne and Jim Freeland.
Contact host Christopher Fox Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam early by Friday, April 6, or arrive at the door by 7 p.m. to sign up the day of the slam. Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive.
The Sedona Poetry Slam will be hosted by Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on 10 FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004-06, 2010 and 2012-17. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.
What is Poetry Slam?
Founded at the Green Mill Tavern in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport designed to get people who would otherwise never go to a poetry reading excited about the art form when it becomes a high-energy competition.
Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets' contents and performances. Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.
Slam poets have opened at the 2010 Winter Olympics, performed at the White House and at the United Nations General Assembly and were featured on "Russell Simmon's Def Poets" on HBO.
For more information, visit poetryslam.com or the PSi channel on YouTube.
Saturday, March 17, 2018
"No Irish need apply," a whiskey poem about America for St. Patrick's Day
No Irish need apply
We say goodbye
make our mothers cry
Break hearts for the dream
and no Irish need apply
Who built the bridge's mate
And scrapped the city sky
And bled with your sons
And so
The blend be gone
when I wed your lovely daughter
maybe you shouldn't ought of
But you gave her away
To be with me
Now
What do you think
you gonna buy me a drink
Aye
with these hands
and this heart
I touch you and we never stand apart
"E pluribus bleedin' unum"
have you got it
do you know what that means
It means blend
Blend is the backbone of this place
Look around ya
every generations got a different face
some very different
some pretty like me
everyone's gorgeous if you open your eyes to see
we were all them once
now were just us
just U.S.
ask your old granny if you need more proof
now take a look in the mirror
and you'll see the truth
The blend
I am Blend
And so are you
And you
And you
And that other fella too
We are all blend
From the beginning
To the end
So glasses up
And I'll say aye
to the beauty of blend?
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Christopher Fox Graham proposes to Laura Ann Lynn at the Flagstaff Poetry Slam on Feb. 7, 2018
All thanks to Andrew Ibrado for the footage!
And thanks for the well wishes from Kenneth Kreslake, Ian Keirsey, Taylor Hayes, Teresa Newkirk, Bernard "The Klute" Schober, Tyler "Valence" Sirvinskas, Ryan Smalley, Nicolas Perez, Briana Grace Hammerstrom, Kimberly "Possible" Jarchow, Gabbi Jue, Vincent Vega, Taja Carina, Claire Pearson, Jessica Renee Ballantyne and Jeanne Freeland
 |
| Performing "Our Death is in Your Belly" |
 |
| The kiss after the poem |
 |
| The proposal from the five judges, read by host Briana Grace Hammerstrom |
 |
| With the ring on bended knee |
 |
| The kiss |
 |
| Laura Ann Lynn says "yes" (see, I have video proof) |
 |
| The kiss after the "yes" |
 |
| The crowd wildly applauding |
 |
| Putting on the ring |
 |
| We're engaged! |
Well-wishes from our friends:
 |
| Kenny Kreslake |
 |
| Ian Keirsey |
 |
| Taylor Hayes |
 |
| Kenny Kreslake |
 |
| Teresa Newkirk |
 |
| The Klute |
 |
| Valence |
 |
| Ryan Smalley |
 |
| Nicolas Perez |
 |
| Briana Grace Hammerstrom |
 |
| Kim Possible |
 |
| Gabbi Jue |
 |
| Vincent Vega |
 |
| Taja Carina |
 |
| Claire Pearson |
 |
| Briana Grace Hammerstrom |
 |
| Gabbi Jue |
 |
| Jessica Renee Ballentyne |
 |
| Jeanne Freeland |
 |
| Our last kiss in the video |
Monday, February 5, 2018
"Our Death is in Your Belly" by Christopher Fox Graham
a mass of muscle and sinew
stitching with her own needle
four helixes into two
a ribbon dancer
pirouetting with our DNA
in a 40-week recital before leaping forth,
half-you-half-meand ending our lives
our death is in your belly
because before her
we were strangers
boy and girl
ping-ponging across the continent
until we collided hips into a moment
when we both forgot our names
shed our skins into each other
poured and swallowed our best intentions
two short lifetimes of sins and sorrows
into hope of something better than us both
our death is in your belly
because once she arrives
reforming us into something new
we will no longer be Self and Other
but Her
entire
and no shatter of timenor territory
can unmake the magic
we distilled into her cells
bearing a name we have chosen but not yet bestowed
a name she will shape
with experiences chiseled from scraped knees and first kisses
painting her legacy across the tongue of history
until he speaks her story
into the generations hence
whatever name we articulate
afterward, the echoed men and women will call her
the name trees have
for earthquakes
the noun waves use
for tsunamis
or what shattered moons
call the supernovae
that reduced them
to asteroids
our death is in your belly
and when she cuts umbilical
the arrogant World will know his greatest sin
was not anticipating her arrival
not building enough bomb shelters to preserve his deceptions
not assembling an army to resist her
so she will leave in wreckage his broken promises
turn into refugees the Should-Haves and Might-Have-Dones
that civilizations left behind in the vapor around their stone monuments
you
will be the mother who bore the joyous cataclysm
and I
will be the failure
she will rectify
in her own time
our death is in your belly
how we die
will be up to us
and what kills us
up to fate
but she will be our death
the last face we see
the last hand we hold
the last voice we hear
as the light dims in our irises
as the mechanics slow
to a dull whisper
as the organs take well-earned vacation
from life-long labor
and she,
looking back
will be the price paid
for all we have endured
she will be our death
the daughter to bury us both
first one,
then the other
she will be our deathjudging whether our lives be worthy of eulogy
she will inscribe the epitaph
telling the world
what we have left behind
whatever she writes
will be for her,
not us
for us,
she is what we left behind
she will forge the fire
our privilege was to light the flame
she will be our death
and I can hear the rumblings of our doom
when I press my ear against your belly
she sounds like gods
of 6,000 mythologies ...
... trembling
she sounds like a love song
stars sing to each other
she sounds like Four Horsemen
before loosening themselves upon the World
she sounds like a poem
just before it is spoken
she sounds like revolution
wrapped around the first bullet
she sounds the whisper in the night
that ignites
the
Big
Bang
she sounds like the ache
of our first kiss
when it was still partitioned on our lipsknowing our next moment
would end in death for us both
but a little girl we have yet to meet
would ferry us into the dark
unafraid of what may
not
come
next
Friday, January 26, 2018
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Mary D. Fisher Theatre hosts fourth Sedona Poetry Slam of 2017-18 season Saturday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m.
The Sedona Poetry Slam returns to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m.
A poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays, judged by the audience. and boisterous . Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a “slam” poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain and inspire the audience with their creativity.
All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. To compete in the slam, poets will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted. The poets are judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.
Poets in the Sedona Poetry Slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School.
The first three slams of the season were held Nov. 4, Dec. 16 and Dec. 30, won by Lauren Perry, M.C. Tristan Marshall and Bernard "The Klute" Schober, respectively. The next three slams will be at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. SR 89A, Suite A-3, in West Sedona, on Saturdays April 7, May 5 and May 26.
Tickets are $12. For tickets, call 282-1177 or visit SedonaFilmFestival.org.
The 2017-18 season will culminate in selection of Sedona’s seventh National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent Sedona and the Verde Valley at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
The Last Chance Slam on May 26 will be the final opportunity for poets who want to qualify for the 2018 Grand Slam. With every regular slam, poets earn points toward a slot in the Grand Slam, on Saturday, June 9. The poets who make the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team at the final contest will represent Sedona and share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe at the week-long National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
Sedona sent its first team to the 2012 NPS in Charlotte, N.C., its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and its third and fourth to Oakland, Calif., its fifth to Decatur, Ga., and its sixth to Denver. For more information, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.
The prize money is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporters Jeanne and Jim Freeland.
Contact host Christopher Fox Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam early by Friday, Feb. 2, or arrive at the door by 7 p.m. to sign up the day of the slam. Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive. The Sedona Poetry Slam will be hosted by Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on 10 FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004-06, 2010 and 2012-17. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.
Founded at the Green Mill Tavern by Marc Smith in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport designed to get people who would otherwise never go to a poetry reading excited about the art form when it becomes a high-energy competition. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets’ contents and performances. Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe. Slam poets have opened at the 2010 Winter Olympics, performed at the White House and at the United Nations General Assembly and were featured on "Russell Simmon's Def Poets" on HBO.
For more information, visit poetryslam.com or the PSi channel on YouTube.
A poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays, judged by the audience. and boisterous . Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a “slam” poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain and inspire the audience with their creativity.
 |
Bernard "The Klute" Schober reads his victory poem after winning the third
Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2017-18 season on Dec. 30 at the Mary D. Fisher
Theatre. The next Sedona Poetry Slam takes place Saturday, Feb. 3, at
7:30 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre.
|
Poets in the Sedona Poetry Slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School.
The first three slams of the season were held Nov. 4, Dec. 16 and Dec. 30, won by Lauren Perry, M.C. Tristan Marshall and Bernard "The Klute" Schober, respectively. The next three slams will be at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. SR 89A, Suite A-3, in West Sedona, on Saturdays April 7, May 5 and May 26.
Tickets are $12. For tickets, call 282-1177 or visit SedonaFilmFestival.org.
The Sedona National Poetry Slam Team
 |
Lauren Perry won the first Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2017-18 season
on Nov. 4 at the Sedona Arts Center. The next Sedona Poetry Slam
takes place Saturday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre.
|
The Last Chance Slam on May 26 will be the final opportunity for poets who want to qualify for the 2018 Grand Slam. With every regular slam, poets earn points toward a slot in the Grand Slam, on Saturday, June 9. The poets who make the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team at the final contest will represent Sedona and share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe at the week-long National Poetry Slam in Chicago in August.
Sedona sent its first team to the 2012 NPS in Charlotte, N.C., its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and its third and fourth to Oakland, Calif., its fifth to Decatur, Ga., and its sixth to Denver. For more information, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.
The prize money is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporters Jeanne and Jim Freeland.
Contact host Christopher Fox Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam early by Friday, Feb. 2, or arrive at the door by 7 p.m. to sign up the day of the slam. Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive. The Sedona Poetry Slam will be hosted by Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on 10 FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004-06, 2010 and 2012-17. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.
What is Poetry Slam?
Founded at the Green Mill Tavern by Marc Smith in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport designed to get people who would otherwise never go to a poetry reading excited about the art form when it becomes a high-energy competition. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets’ contents and performances. Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe. Slam poets have opened at the 2010 Winter Olympics, performed at the White House and at the United Nations General Assembly and were featured on "Russell Simmon's Def Poets" on HBO.
For more information, visit poetryslam.com or the PSi channel on YouTube.
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