Buscando hogar

Hello world, I'm not in the habit of posting this sort of thing very often, but you see, I've found myself in a bit of a bind. The lease on the house I've been living in for the last year in Flagstaff is coming up on the first of August. Spring & I had something lined up, but it's fallen through. Now we have just a handfull of days before we're out, and no place to live.

So, if anyone out there in internetlandia knows of a two or three bedroom house on the westside or southside, coming up for rent in the next month or so, help a brother out!

Dom Flemons in His Element

One of my favorite things to see is my friends being successful at what they love to do. Hopefully this post will be the first in a series giving props to the people who I respect and helping publicize their various projects.

Dom Flemons cover

So, first up, none other than Dom Flemons.

I met Dom my Freshman year at Northern Arizona University at a campus poetry slam. He had just started slamming as well but had quickly become the unchallenged diva, due to his huge personality, hilarious writing and stage experience. We were teammates on our first two poetry teams the following year, at the 2002 National Collegiate Poetry Slam in Cleveland and the 2002 National Poetry Slam in Minneapolis.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of being his friend, listening to his music, arguing with him about everything under the sun, and just generally watching his afro and talent grow larger and larger. I've designed his last four self-released CD's, the cover of one is on the right.

Now, Dom has left Flagstaff and has found himself right where he needs to be. He's one third of the rockin' Sankofa Strings, a "african-american string band" that is quickly gaining attention. I remember telling Dom years ago that while his solo performances were epic, a band was the way to go for him. I mention that now not because I had anything to do with Sankofa Strings, but just to rub it in, should he read this, sucka.

Flagstaff's NPR affiliate, KNAU interviewed the band when they were in the area recently. Listen to the interview, it makes me beam.

This is happy fate.

Arizona Migrant Death Count reaches 151

For Immediate Release Since militarization was implemented on the U.S.-México border in the mid-1990s, it has been estimated that more than 3,000 men, women and children have lost their lives in their attempt to seek a better future for themselves and their families. As a non-profit human rights organization, Coalición de Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras is deeply concerned about these continued deaths. We are particularly disturbed by those deaths that have resulted from attempts to cross our desert—deaths due to exposure and heat related, specifically. These are tragedies, and we feel that such a human rights crisis needs a viable solution.

In order to alert our government and the public as to the true extent of these casualties, accurate numbers of deaths must be recorded. Currently, conflicting numbers are constantly being released, mostly because of the complicated nature of recovering and identifying individuals who often carry little or no identification with them, and because the lack of communications between the many agencies to which this information is passed.

Derechos Humanos began a concerted attempt to keep a more accurate record of migrants who have died on our borders last spring in the hope that a more accurate count of the casualties of border policies will bring about change. With the cooperation of the Pima, Yuma, and Cochise County Medical Examiner offices, as well as the Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary and the Consular offices of Honduras and Guatemala, we began the task of keeping an independent count of migrant deaths.

The migrant death list is available to the community on the Derechos Humanos website: www.derechoshumanosaz.net. The information will be updated on a monthly basis, as we receive monthly reports from medical examiner offices. We will use this information in order to keep a more accurate record of the deaths and to show the true extent of the casualties of failed border policies. This information will be available to anyone who requests it from us and will be used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.

In the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2004, the total number of migrant deaths that have occurred in Arizona reached an alarming 151 deaths by June 30, 2005. The current heat wave has put Arizona on pace to break the record number of deaths for the last fiscal year, which Coalición de Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras compiled at 234.

Until the true cost of our border and immigration policies are weighed, and viable solutions sought, Arizonans will continue to witness the tragedy of hundreds of our migrant sisters and brothers losing their lives on the border.

# # #

2005 NORAZ DVD

Hello interweb. Happy Freedom Day. Ahem. By now it's pretty well known that I've been working like a dog on the 2005 NORAZ DVD for the last month and a half or so. Remember the Grand Slam that we had in April at the Orpheum? It's that night, including backstage footage, interviews and killer footage of amazing poetry.

2005 NORAZ DVD Release Party July 16th, 2005 8pm Canyon Moon Theatre, Sedona FREE, but bring $13 to buy a DVD!

It will be onsale online soon, but until then:

Check out the trailer I've been dying to post for the last week! Let me know what you think!

High Noon & High Water at the Southwest Shootout

The minivan that the car rental place gave us is called the Kia Sedona. I-35 just north of Austin is known as one of the worst-designed freeways in the United States. The last time I passed through it, my friend Tammy Gomez in Ft. Worth told me that engineering professors from UT bring their students here and instruct them on hownot to design.

We're staying with the infamous Suzy La Follette on S. Congress, just on the other side of the bridge from the Texas State Capitol building, which is an exact replica of the national capitol building except that, of course, in true Texas style, it is 14' taller than the dome in Washington.

Even the poets and swimming pools are huge here.

Last night in the priliminary round our Team NORAZ took third against four other teams.

Southwest Shootout 2005, Austin!

Two teams from Albuquerque, Houston, NORAZ and arriving last to the venue, Team Austin. I was afraid that maybe they broke down on the long drive to reach the venue. Mike Henry was showing scenes from the upcoming slam documentary Slam Planet before the action, so Andy Buck arrived early in a way, projected.

The Albuquerque team headed to the National Poetry Slam is working hard not to dissapoint their community in August. And they're well on the way.

We don't know if we'll get to perform tonight. Before finals, there will be a one-poem head-to-head to decide which team goes into the finals: NORAZ or San Antonio. We're throwing up Christopher Lane with "Poetry Is Still." All is riding on him. Last night we played it real risky, saving our best poems for the finals. This is where we deserve to be and where we perform best.

Krissy Reeves tells me that today is the middle day. Exactly 182 days of 2005 have already passed, 182 still left to go.

We go on stage at eight pm.

Suzy just finished shaving my head.

Collared Peccary Reading / Release Party

The Canyon Moon Theatre, Sedona, AZ. I've had two poems accepted into the Spring / Summer issue of THE COLLARED PECCARY, Northern Arizona's best literary journal. I'll be a part of the reading / release party. The two poems of mine that were published:

"In Ciudad Juarez They Say the Night is a Thief" "What He Dreams of in His Coma"

Here's the blurb:

Last year, poetry took great strides forward in NORthern AriZona with the release of the first issue of The Collared Peccary: The poetry of Northern Arizona. Thirty NORthern AriZona poets were included.

On Sunday, June 19, at 7 p.m., poets and poetry lovers will gather in Sedona at the Canyon Moon Theatre to celebrate the release of the second issue of The Collared Peccary: The poetry of Northern Arizona. This time around, 37 NORthern AriZona poets are included, supplying 52 poems – one for every card in the deck.

Tickets are $15 which includes a copy of the second issue of The Collared Peccary: The poetry of Northern Arizona. Many of the poets in the new issue will read their poems from the new issue and guests will be treated to wine and hors d'oeuvres.

For more information, contact series editor Portlin Cochise at 928.274.2060, or issue editors James Bishop Jr. at 928.282.1996 or John Reid at 928.204.0695.

Canyon Moon Theatre Old Marketplace 1370 W. Hwy. 89A Sedona 928.282.6212

Back from the road & a special place in NM

Let's put it this way: On the long drive home from Ft. Worth to Flagstaff, I spent the night in a little place that likes to call itself LOGAN, NEW MEXICO. Let's get it straight: my fancy pants atlas said it was right off the freeway about 20 miles, and I couldn't let myself miss the opportunity for rockin' Logan paraphernalia and signage, such as:

The Logan Gun Club The Logan Senior Center Logan Liquors & Smokes Logan Association for Associated Buggery

Alright, so only the first two really existed. But I went into the quaintest antique shop on the quarter-mile strip, YESTERDAY'S TREASURE (big shout out to Martha, holla!) looking for Logan postcards. Martha, Owner-and-Operator, let me know that unfortunately there were NO LOGAN POSTCARDS. "Wait," she said, "I might have something..." We walk to the back of the store. "Oh no, I thought this cane said 'Logan' on it, but looks like it only says 'Ute Lake'." Lady, I didn't want no cane anyway. I let her know that the entire town was missing out on a unique tourist opportunity (Logans), bought a 6 pack of Corona, drank them alone and backfloated in aforementioned Ute Lake.

There has been a lot going on, but not much of it has made it to the website. I'll start posting more soon.

Thanks to all you crazy kids who made tour a knock-down, drag-out affair, les agradezco mucho. No names needed, you know who you are, now come to Flagtown and let me return the favor...

Apuntes de la ruta / notes from the road

Check out this post for some stories of pavement... click

tres estados

I'll be updating with some dispatches from the road as comments on this post. Feel free to respond, homeslice.

June tour!

tres estados

Borderstates, here I come. Complete with a second printing of Sun Said Shine, two new t-shirts, the 2005 NORAZ Grand Slam DVD, stickers, and endless verbos mal importados.

Sat. 5/28 Arcosanti Arizona State Spoken Word Festival

Wed. 6/1 Santa Fe Gary Mex Glazner's Radio program

Thurs. 6/2 Albuquerque 7pm

RB Winnings' Coffee Co. 211 Harvard SE

Sat. 6/4 Albuquerque Featured poet @ A Collage of Verse Sign-up @ 7 pm, Show @ 7:30pm

Annapurna Chai House 2201 Silver SE (Corner of Silver and Yale in the University area)

Sun. 6/5 El Paso / Ciudad Juarez? looking for a show... or street corner...

Mon. 6/6 Corpus Christi Featured poet & host of the Corpus Christi Grand Slam @ the Ballabajoomba Slam sign up at 7:30 p.m

Cassidy's Irish Pub 601 N. Water St. Corpus Christi, TX 78401 (361) 879-0534

Tues. 6/7 San Antonio Featured poet @ Puro Slam 10:30opm

Sam's Burger Joint 330 E. Grayson @ Broadway

Wed. 6/8 Austin Double feature with Jason Carney @ the Austin Poetry Slam Sign-up at 7:30 pm, slam at 8 pm.

Ego's Bar 510 South Congress Ave Austin, TX. 78704-1716 (512) 474-7091 Hosted by Mike Henry and Genevieve Van Cleve

Thurs. 6/9 Ft. Worth Featured poet @ the Ft. Worth Poetry Slam 8:30-10:30 pm

Black Dog Tavern 903 Throckmorton Street Fort Worth Hosted by Anthony Douglas and Michael Guinn

Fri. 6/10 Dallas Featured poet @ the Dallas Poety Slam 8:30 PM - 10:30 PM Hosted by Rock Baby and Militant X

Club Clearview 2803 Main Street in Deep Ellum Dallas, Texas 214.939.0077 $3.00 donation.

Sun. 6/12 Dallas NEW DATE ADDED! A show in north Dallas, more info to come...

Opening for Buddy Wakefield

This is going to be good: Next Thrusday night, May 12 at 6:30, Buddy Wakefield will be performing at Verde Valley School. Buddy is the WORLD INDIVIDUAL SLAM CHAMPION for the SECOND YEAR in a row! This is a "don't miss" opportunity. Starting the evening off if a performance by the 2005 Northern Arizona Slam Team. Tickets are $10, and bring a piece to use in the performance workshop Buddy is offering after the show. The workshop is at 8 and costs an additional $5.

Verde Valley School: 3511 Verde Valley School Road Sedona, AZ 86351

(520) 284-2272

Uptown Billards Reading

I'll be doing a reading, almost entirely of "non-slam" stuff, i.e. lots of forms. Uptown Billiards 114 N. Leroux St. Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Somos uno; we are one

The unthinkable becomes routine: thirty hours spent in the car this month in-between frontera / flagstaff. This time, the group is small and seasoned: Jewelynx Disasterpants and Esprring, blearry streaking there and back.

No sign of the Minutemen. The valley is much calmer, free of lawnchair commandos but still Green Streaking migra stripes on every other car. Every other car a portable prison. It’s the 30th of April. The octatillo are burning on the ends, someone spraypainted “NO ONE IS ILLEGAL” over a “closed borders” sign.

signs outside of Naco

We are here to celebrate the end of April in all its connotations y la mañana llena de esperanzas.

But remember the wise words of Ahnold. The borders should be “sealed.” Wait no, chaulk that one up to “bad english,” he says. Sure, since he was also talking about the Minutemen doing a “terrific job.” More bad english. That article made the front page of the hometown Herald. Listen to this.

Naco Highway is a runway. It’s 2:30pm and there are 15 of us, 2:45 and there are 30, the statute of liberty is wearing a long dress, gray hair and yelling “vamos” from the revolving port-of-entry. We wait, the sun growing impatient with the back of our necks. Someone makes a comment about pachouli oil being aged 30 years in mesquite barrels. The songs start, the last parking lot on Amurican soil has a sign that reads “GAY 90s PARKING ONLY.” Esprring asks what it’s talking about. We turn around and “GAY 90s” is written in flowing script on the plaster of the building next to us. Later some children would be shouting “SOMOS UNO; WE ARE ONE” from a concrete stage.

It’s three. Ray and the ACLU volunteers ride in, the anti-calvery clad in bright yellow shirts and their own burnt skin. I’m passing out white crosses with names written across their arms. “DESCONOCIDA, 2003” Las Boinas Cafés de Aztlán, brown fists and los tres colores stoic in sway. Someone is yelling that we’ve agreed not to record the border crossing for Homeland Security Reasons™. Univision is recording our footsteps from a foot off the ground.

There’s a discussion of Liberation Theology™ going on somewhere behind me. They open a heavy automatic gate to let our procession through. The border wall here is painted in 10 foot tall children with names like “Francisco” and “Mike,” it looks like they were painted by 4 foot tall artists and have faded. Maybe in the last month.

They’re playing songs up front. Father Carney walks with us. Later he’ll remind me that it’s up to the youth from here on out.

Plaza Juárez is pólvera and european band stand, PA and piñatas. It takes so long for all of us to arrive, we’re a millipede shuffling our million feet.

The organizers hectic and smiling, MC and band and berets.

Celeste and I are next on the mic. We’re opening with her poem “The Border Line” that she first performed at the Binational Poetry Reading a few weeks back. I read it in English, she in Spanish with fuego. Lenguas y llamas. I asked for her permission to put my recording of “The Border Line” for all to see. She said yes. The sun has again sunk to look us in the eyes. I’m reading “La Viejita,” catching sight of M.E.Ch.A de NAU halfway through, we can’t stop now. They are cheering, I almost can’t finish.

The kids steal the show anyway. Kat from Derechos Humanos wrote a small obra de teatro, it’s great. “SOMOS UNO; WE ARE ONE.” Gritando in all kinds of throats.

Later, they’re breaking open piñatas with sheer excitement. The piñatas are giant M&M’s. Get it? Mm?

April ends at sundown and we begin to write the lines of the next chapter at dawn.

Five hours to Flagstaff.

Team NORAZ 2005 to make plans.

Why not turn the net the other way: The binational volleyball game

This time I'm stumbling at 6:15am, Suzy has a date with Sky Harbor airport at 10:00, Nick has one shortly after that. The airport gets around. I sleep in the back of the truck as Suzy throws it down the mountain toward Phoenix, the truck is still full of dust from yesterday's back roads, the campershell is leaking with today's storm. Red mud is seeping into the blankets. I sleep like someone forgotten. Then were there. Airports are chaos factories, I'm all bad breath and slam hangover, Suz is saying goodbye, I'm forgetting what I mean to say. She's gone into the teeming strangers. Bye Suz. See you soon.

Then Nick is driving, the Niflers are insisting that I wake up more quickly, Liz is laughing from the back seat and offering no help whatsoever. Nick is talking shit about Tempe, not stopping until we pull into some almost anonymous Mexican joint for breakfast. Vegetarian options? Beans. Liz and I opt to go to the natural café. Nick wishes he did.

Then another goodbye, one that will last even longer. Nick is off to Francia to fish with old men and lead the Nifler invasion of France. I refuse to explain.

jugando volibol

It rained last night. Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico were all slick looking and gazing at each other with shy eyes, as if they were about to go to some Spanglish prom. All barbwire and high heels.

"I want to stop and talk to some Minutemen," I tell Liz just before it's too late. We stop at a lawnchair-commando post off of 92.

He looks like you'd expect, binoculars and sunflower seed-spittle. He is from Oregon. Came down for a few days to "help out." Is looking for men in the hills. Hasn't seen any. Knows all of the soundbytes by heart. He asks what I think. "I'm from Sierra Vista," I tell him, almost from my heart, "it's pretty interesting watching all of you show up all of a sudden where I grew up.

"Do illegals walk near your house?"

"Yeah."

"Ever have any problems with them?"

"No."

"Huh. Hey, the ACLU camp is set up just over there if ya wanna go and talk to them."

"Thanks" I don't know what else to add. Take care? No, not exactly. Have a good day? He seems like the kind of person that has good days at the expense of others.

We walk back down the highway, over a arroyo being diligently watched by a California flag. The ACLU camp is a white car with about 4 people sitting on the trunk or in chairs near the trunk. More interesting is the interview being conducted just a few feet away by a group of three men and a tape recorder. They're interviewing a man sitting in a camouflage military-style jeep, he's replete with aviator glasses and full gear. As I walk up he is saying "I'm a first generation, tu sabe..." The elusive chicano Minuteman... I wish I had heard more.

The journalist conducting the interview is Enrique Morones Careaga, of the San Diego-based organization Ángeles de la Frontera, which he describes as "the exact opposite of the Minutemen, we put water in the desert to keep migrants from dying." With him are two men from Tijuana, who I begin to speak to as the jeep roars off and Enrique moves to talk to the ACLU volunteers.

Turns out this is noneother than Ray Ybarra, whose appeal for volunteers I quoted in my first Minuteman post. It's great to meet him, and he is more articulate in speaking of the project than I am. He mentions that the real danger is Minuteman volunteers trying to "out-chingon each other." Well said. I really hope he will be writing about his experiences after his time on the border.

Turns out that Enrique is headed to the volleyball game as well, he asks for directions and I offer to have him follow us.

Cumbia down the highway, déjà vu pulling onto dirt roads. "VOLLEYBALL->" the sign says, in the rearview I notice it's scrawled on the back of an old "VOTE NO PROP 200" sign. Right on.

jugando volibol

We all pile in a shuttle and run down the border road to where the wall drops away. There's a giant news truck from KVOA Channel 4, the NBC affiliate out of Tucson. It takes up most of the road and seems to be an issue for the organizers.

They've turned the net the other way.

We were all expecting the net to be parallel with the border line, but turns out each team is half-n-half. We all agree that it was a great idea.

dos niñas de agua prieta

I'm out of the car, smiling, there are so many more people here than the poetry reading, especially Mexicans. Familiar smiling faces: Rocío, Isabel, Paul, Emilie, Kat, Chris, etc. etc. The game is going full-tilt and they start setting up a second net to deal with the crowd.

dos niñas de agua prieta

The greatest thing to see is all of the conversations happening across the line and the children climbing all over the metal border, laughing.

logan sentado por el 'muro'

Thanks to Liz for the photos and coming along in the first place. 11 hours in the car...

The volleyball game has received much more attention than the previous events, and I'm told that there were over 300 people at last weekend's "Lifting up the Border," the binational / bilingual mass.

  • The April 26 cover story of the local paper, the Sierra Vista Herald.
  • April 25 story by the Arizona Republic.

The last "April Unity Event" is this Saturday, April 30. It is a unity march and party in Naco at 2:30pm. If you would like to come with me, please let me know. I will be leaving Friday afternoon and returning to Flagstaff by Noon on Sunday. You'll have a place to stay, all I ask is help with the gas money.

logan representando 'la viejita de sonora' en frente de la migra

Hello Team NORAZ 2005!

The 2005 NORAZ Poetry Grand Slam was a complete blast. The winners:

  1. Christopher Lane
  2. Logan Phillips
  3. Christopher Fox Graham
  4. Meghan Jones
  5. Aaron Johnson

Meghan narrowly beat out Aaron for the last spot in a dramatic slam-off. I'm really glad there is a woman on the team this year and Aaron is going to be a great alternate with tons of poems memorized. I really can't wait to see how this all begins to shape up.

Now I have 12 hours of footage that I get to edit down into the 2005 DVD. I'll be reliving that night for the next few months...

Beyond Page vs. Stage: Slam Poetry as an Accessible Form

Ever heard the phrase "slam poetry isn't real poetry?"

Come explore that idea for yourself at a presentation given this Friday, April 22nd at 4:30pm at NAU's DuBois ballroom in Flagstaff. Local poet and NORAZ Poets advisory board member Logan Phillips will present slam poetry as a poetry form, as valid as the more well-known forms of sestinas, villanelles or haiku. Following the lecture, there will be a small panel discussion which will include Prescott poet and advisory board member Daniel H. Seaman.

Part of the 9th Annual Conference at the Peaks, presented by the Organization of Graduate Students of English, the presentation follows this year's theme of "The River of Words: Exploring Fluidity and Dynamism in Literature and Language." Hardly anything is as dynamic as slam poetry, a young form that has exploded across the nation over the last 20 years. So come out and explore the ideas surrounding poetry forms.

NORAZ Poets is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which promotes poetry and poetry events in NORthern AriZona. More information: http://www.norazpoets.org

Presentation Abstract: Since it’s inception in the mid-1980’s, the competitive art of Poetry Slam has only continued to gain popularity, media exposure and momentum. This year, the fifteenth annual National Poetry Slam will be held just four hours from Flagstaff in Albuquerque, NM. This offers a unique opportunity for our thriving literary community to reflect on the influence and discourse of slam poetry here in Northern Arizona.

Our brief presentation, followed by a small panel discussion, will seek to debunk the “stage vs. page” myth by exploring the characteristics of slam poetry not as the opposite of “page poetry,” but rather as another poetry form. Equally as valid of a form as a sestina or sonnet, slam poetry draws on a long tradition of oral expression and is marked by specific characteristics which define it clearly. These characteristics include distinct uses of repetition, length, subject matter, and yes, even meter. Equally informed by hip-hop, popular culture, stand-up comedy, forensics and “traditional” poetry, slam is very visible and accessible, often acting as an entry point into the literary arts for those who may not have been exposed to them otherwise. This initial exposure often leads to further involvement in the literary community, as we will show using examples from our own area.

Far from being mutually exclusive, slam poetry and the more traditional literary arts stand to gain much from each other. Nowhere in poetry are popular culture and our society so clearly reflected, defined and critiqued as within slam. One could liken the young form to a flash flood entering the wider river of words, adding not only new audience and power, but also seeking to define itself and find its place within the flow of the literary arts.

It's on

THE 2005 NORAZ POETRY GRAND SLAMIt's the biggest event of all year! buy tickets!

Hosted by and featuring the founder of the Flagstaff poetry slam, Nick Fox! Nick Fox