The Klute features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, March 5

With the fourth poetry slam of the season just around the corner, the Sedona Poetry Slam proudly welcomes Arizona slam poetry icon Bernard "The Klute" Schober to the stage on Saturday, March 5. 

Performance poets will bring high-energy, competitive spoken word to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre starting at 7:30 p.m. with The Klute performing between rounds. 

The Klute

The Klute is Arizona's globetrotting, shark-diving, dive-mastering nerd-slam emeritus host, slam poet. A 10-time National Poetry Slam team member who has represented the cities of Mesa, Phoenix and Sedona, he's made the s National Poetry Slam Semi-Finals stage three times and Group Piece Finals once. 

The author of four published works "Kluteocrypha," "Chumming the Waters," "High-Concept Sci-Fi Horror Mashup!" and "Cap'n Klute's Ocean Almanac," he also manages the YouTube Channel "The Undersea World of the Klute," bringing his poetic take to marine and shark conservation shorts with footage he has filmed from around the world, from the deep Indian Ocean depths of the South African coast, to the shrinking, climate-imperiled islands of the Maldives, to the sunny waters of Philippine Sea. 

Even tempered by the oceans, his political scalpel remains as sharp as ever, and with a target-rich environment such as today's, no one is spared.     

What does Megalodon thinks about extinction? Want to know the epic quest that all Hammerhead sharks take? What do Great White sharks think about Discovery Channel cameramen? 

Find out about all this and more at Sedona, on March 5 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre!

Anyone Can Compete

A poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays, judged by the audience. Anyone can sign up to compete in the slam for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. 

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.

Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. 

Poets come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School. 

All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain and inspire the audience with their creativity.

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

The upcoming poetry slams of the season will be held Saturdays, April 23 and May 14.

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

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

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

What is Poetry Slam? 

Founded at the Green Mill Tavern in Chicago in 1984 by Marc Smith, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport designed to get people who would otherwise never go to a poetry reading excited about the art form when it becomes a high-energy competition. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets' contents and performances.

Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe. Slam poets have opened at the Winter Olympics, performed at the White House and at the United Nations General Assembly and were featured on "Russell Simmon's Def Poets" on HBO.

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

"Are you meditating on virginity?" performed by Sacha Dhawan

 

Sacha Dhawan delivers an edited version of Parolles’s lines from the first scene of "All’s Well That Ends Well." Parolles urges Helena to consider the importance of losing one’s virginity.

from "All's Well That Ends Well," spoken by Parolles

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Are you meditating on virginity?

Virginity being blown down, man will quicklier be

blown up: marry, in blowing him down again, with

the breach yourselves made, you lose your city. It

is not politic in the commonwealth of nature to

preserve virginity. Loss of virginity is rational

increase and there was never virgin got till

virginity was first lost. That you were made of is

metal to make virgins. Virginity by being once lost

may be ten times found; by being ever kept, it is

ever lost: 'tis too cold a companion; away with 't!

... 'tis against the

rule of nature. To speak on the part of virginity,

is to accuse your mothers; which is most infallible

disobedience. He that hangs himself is a virgin:

virginity murders itself and should be buried in

highways out of all sanctified limit, as a desperate

offendress against nature. Virginity breeds mites,

much like a cheese; consumes itself to the very

paring, and so dies with feeding his own stomach.

Besides, virginity is peevish, proud, idle, made of

self-love, which is the most inhibited sin in the

canon. Keep it not; you cannot choose but loose

by't: out with 't! within ten year it will make

itself ten, which is a goodly increase; and the

principal itself not much the worse: away with 't!

"All the world’s a stage," performed by Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch performs William Shakespeare’s "As You Like It," the sad Jacques delivers these lines as a monologue in Act II, Scene VII. The monologue is centered on a conceit comparing life to a play. Jacques borrows this conceit from Duke Senior, who remarks after learning of Orlando’s misfortunes that:

This wide and universal theatre

Presents more woeful pageants than the scene

Wherein we play in

Jacques, renowned for his cynical wit, immediately responds by blowing this conceit out of proportion. According to Jacques, man essentially plays seven parts in his lifetime:

1. The helpless infant
2. The whining schoolboy
3. The emotional lover
4. The devoted soldier
5. The wise judge
6. The clueless old man
7. The corpse

from "As You Like It," spoken by Jacques

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;

And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon lined,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything

Sedona Poetry Slam kicks off 2022 with a slam on Jan. 15

With 2021 in the rearview and 2022 on the horizon, the Sedona Poetry Slam enters its 14th year of performance poets bringing high-energy, competitive spoken word to the Mary D. Fisher Theatre starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15.

Damien Flores, of Albuquerque, performs at the Sedona Poetry Slam in November. A published author and teacher, Flores was the guest featured poet between competitive rounds.

A poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays, judged by the audience. Anyone can sign up to compete in the slam for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. 

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.

Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. 

Poets come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School. 

Kate Martin, of Flagstaff, performs at the Sedona Poetry Slam in November.

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.

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

The Sedona Poetry Slam held two competitions in October and November. The upcoming poetry slams of the season will be held Saturdays, March 5, featuring Bernard "The Klute" Schober, of Phoenix; April 23; and Saturday, May 14.

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

Lydia Gates, of Flagstaff, performs at the Sedona Poetry Slam in November. The slammaster of the Flagstaff Poetry Slam, Gates took second place.

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

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

What is Poetry Slam?

Founded at the Green Mill Tavern in Chicago in 1984 by Marc Smith, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport designed to get people who would otherwise never go to a poetry reading excited about the art form when it becomes a high-energy competition. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets' contents and performances.

Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe. Slam poets have opened at the Winter Olympics, performed at the White House and at the United Nations General Assembly and were featured on "Russell Simmons' Def Poets" on HBO.

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

"When She Asks About the Photo ..." by Christopher Fox Graham

When she asks about the photo

do not tell her that is her great-grandma

the woman she just met weeks ago

for the first time

the woman whose name she shares

whose blood beats in your mother's heart

in your heart

and in hers

who held her weeks ago

taught her how to pet a dog

gently

so he would not nip at her fingers

who gave her Teddy Grahams

in a Ziploc bag

when she asked you, daddy, for a snack

she was always giving that way

do not confirm who the woman in the photo is

she already knows

because her heart beats the same blood

as your heart

as your mother's

and great-grandma's

blood knows blood

despite the distance between computer screens

DNA is a helix handshake defying the digital

wrapping through history 

but she will ask still

and you will tell her

When she asks why great-grandma is in the hospital

do not tell her great-grandma is dying

the woman she just met weeks ago

you knew she was dying

that's why you went

why you boarded the plane with your mother

and your daughter

drove across the wide open

that is Montana

sailing the seas of field peas, mint, lentils, flax, safflower

to the wheat fields that made your family

her dying

is why you came

so they could meet

Sylvia Rebie, meet Athena Sylvia 

four generations 95 years apart

say hello and goodbye

in the same breath

one of you beginning

one of you nearing the end

she doesn't ask why we are here

why Montana is

why Arizona is away

why your wife stayed there and did not come

your wife, she cares too much

would want to help

but there is no rescue here, no salvation

you want this to burn, to hurt, to cut deep

to scar over

you want to bleed into this soil, this farm, this homestead

these Redfields

leave part of you in this dirt

where you never lived

but to where you are bound

and when they ask

this is where you are really from

we are here to say goodbye

your daughter does not know this

it's why great-grandma asked us to come

but your daughter does not know this

your daughter only knows the green

open fields with no fences

dogs playing fetch, gophers evading

pronghorn leaping over fences

deer that rarely see cars on these roads

flowers whose names you do not know

but would if you had grown up here

your daughter would run for days

if you were not here to chase her

across the ranches and farms

that have fed your family

that shared the same blood and womb

so you pretend you're not here

for the reason you're here

wasting breath fighting fate

instead

listen to the stories

ask about the photographs

accept the books she wants you to take home

take photos of them together

so years from now

when she asks about her name

why she likes puddles

how she learn to pet a dog gently

so he would not nip at her fingers

you can point back to this and remind her

of her legacy

let her earn these memories

let great-grandma laugh with one more great-granddaughter

so no hill can hinder that sound 

echoing from horizon to horizon

it's why Eastern Montana so is perfectly flat

just over the border

Death glows in the red sunset, 

waiting

but in Montana, 

even Death 

must take his time

When she asks about the photo

do not tell her without speech

that is someone she knows 

dying

you don't have to

you are sobbing 

without speech

words evicted from your throat

she knows this burns, 

this hurts, 

this cuts deep

because you left your blood and tears in the soil

at the homestead,

in the Redfields

where you are all really from

she learns shared blood makes fathers cry

but she doesn't know Death

he is still just a red sunset

instead she knows the green

the wheat fields

the dogs, the deer, the red barn

dancing at her cousin's wedding

the old woman always laughing

she is where your daughter is really from

When she asks about the photo

don't tell her that is family

dozens bound by wombs and rings

don't tell her great-grandma is there 

beneath them

in the soil next to Papa

where you are all really from

don't waste breath fighting fate

her heart beats the same blood

but now she knows 

where she is really from

"Dear Daughter" by Christopher Fox Graham

 

Dear daughter,

for the last three and a half years 

you, your mother and I have been 

a trifecta of awesome

you the cataclysm

your mother the emergency response

and me the PR department

I cannot predict you

nor aid in the recovery

like your mother

I merely tell strangers, “it could be worse

“be thankful this is as bad as it was 

“this is the damage you can expect to see

“now, go and tell your relatives you survived

“warn them of what's on the horizon”

for three and a half years 

you have been the center of our world

now, two planets will emerge from the darkness

twin stars rising above the horizon 

a pair of orbs to orbit alongside you

I am sorry you are no longer solo

but I am not sorry you are no longer solo

your mother is doing all the labor

I only assisted

I am the RBI

Mission Control

riding shotgun on this out of control stagecoach 

off the cliff of having twins

You have not gained competitors

nor enemies 

but co-conspirators

allies in your little girl revolution

fellow doombringers

heart pirates

hunters on the savanna

warships in a squadron

raining down hellfire at range

Athena wasn't alone either

after she sprang fully arm'd and armor'd

from the mind of Zeus

Hera bore her siblings, too

you will be a trifecta, granddaughters of Chaos

We have gone from trio to quintet 

we do not count by even numbers in this house

me alone, then your mother and you

then the twins

We are a Fibonacci family

we do not yet know who or what they will be

but if, like you

they are equal weights of metric-level amazing

I can only imagine you'll love them as much as we do

they will not be strangers

but as more you, than I am

after all, they're only half me,

half your mother

but you and they share more DNA

and in the end the three of you are more the same

than I and your mother are

keep this in mind

they are not opponents to counter

but allies to co-opt

so do not be jealous

we are having them 

because you are too awesome to be alone

they exist because you were a victory

that needed replication

they are your echoes

evidence of your success

you are first and always will be

I love you singularly for all the days of your life

instead, imagine them in their differences as 

sidekicks

wingmen

your accomplices

Jedi padawans or Sith apprentices

the double-barreled Boomstick

to your Ash Williams

Companions to your Doctor Who,

yes, my blue pickup is the TARDIS

but when in time

your mother and I spent our last

and we are no more

when we are ash and worm's meat

you and they will be what remains

not echoes

nor sequels

nor reimaginings

nor remakes

but the copyedited versions of our rough drafts

new testaments to the old religions

you are the sins forgiven

the word made flesh

the dreams come true

the better versions

of what we wish we were