Rattle #27, Summer 2007

by The Rattle Foundation

Tribute to Slam Poetry

Releasing June 2007, issue #27 features a tribute to the most vibrant scene in contemporary poetry. Beginning in the Green Mill Lounge in 1986, the audience-scored performance poetry phenomenon has spread around the world, drawing crowds of thousands. Yet no major literary magazine had ever done the genre justice. Rattle remedies that problem by including a free, full-length audio CD of performances by 19 of the best poets, including 11 National Slam Champions. This popular issue is by far our widest selling and remains a reader-favorite.

Especially for the issue, Alan Fox interviews the founder of Slam Poetry, Marc Kelly Smith, and 4-time National Slam Champion and National Book Award Finalist Patricia Smith.

Slam Poetry
Introduction: Can Slam Poetry Matter? by Susan B.A. Somers-Willett
Mandate by Roger Bonair-Agard
Piraha by Grace Bruenderman
Every Element Is Relevant by Marlon O. Carey
The Day Jam Master Jay Died by Kevin Coval
Two Bits by Katie F-S
Eulogy of Jimi Christ by Regie Gibson
What's Genocide? by Carlos Andrés Gómez
To My Hair by Alvin Lau
What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali
The Whole Chalupa by Jack McCarthy
My 3rd 9AM Appointment ... by Karyna McGlynn
The Branches Are Full and These Orchards, Heavy, and Cradle by Anis Mojgani
T.S. Eliot's Lost Hip Hop Poem by Jeremy Richards
After the Bowling Stopped by Thadra Sheridan
I Wanted to Be and My Father's Coat by Marc Kelly Smith
Building Nicole's Mama by Patricia Smith
Convenience Stores by Buddy Wakefield

Poetry
Castrati by Sally Albiso
Triptych by John Amen
Midnight by Shannon Amidon
I Went in with My Hands Up by Caleb Barber
The Sacrifice by Michelle Bitting
Peculiar Crimes by Laurie Blauner
Spring Melt by Katherine Bode-Lang
The Service by Trina Burke
Famous Last Words by Antonia Clark
Question Mark and the Mysterious by Barbara Crooker
Under the Shadows by Nika Cruz
Indian Summer and Black Water by Todd Davis
Lively Lips by Kristen Dewald
The Edge by Marco A. Domínguez
Accidental Potatoes by Derek Economy
Aurora Borealis by György Faludy
The Fisherman by Chris Featherman
Present by Brent Fisk
Africa Party by Charlene Fix
A Stewardess Smile by Alan Fox
Insecticide by Cassandra Glickman
Telling the Truth to Daughters by Christopher Goodrich
Cairo Qasidah by Sam Hamill
Will Buddhism Survive? by Peter Harris
Attempt by Elizabeth Hoover
Circle of Cranes by Luisa A. Igloria
The Day I Got My Timing Down by D.R. James
Motel Night Attendant by Mark Evan Johnston
In the Bleachers by David Kelly-Hedrick
Hello, I Must Be Going by Krista Klanderman
Dawn on Maui by John Laue
End Game by Gary Lemons
Hot Night Too Loud for Words and Escapees from the Zoo by Joanne Lowery
At the Spring by David T. Manning
In the Gynecologist's Waiting Room by Joy Maulitz
Rhode Island by Amy Miller
Corporal Russell by Michael Miller
The Beginning of a Long Night by Gabrielle Mittelbach
A Man Is Not Supposed to Give in to Tears by Greg Moglia
It Is Fair to Say There Are Some Lovers... by Natasha K. Moni
To the Former Self in Art Class by Hannah Faith Notess
Home Visit: Danny by Jennifer Perrine
Still Life by Anne Pitkin
These Wild Turkeys by Tim Poland
Bottomlands Widow by Doug Ramspeck
Daphne Swears Off It by Susan Rich
Three Rivers Meet, Become Falls by Liz Robbins
Baby Steps by Jason Schossler
Schroedinger's Cat by Wanda Schubmehl
Love of Distance by Prartho Sereno
Kindness of Strangers by Michael Shorb
Cnidaria by Lisa L. Siedlarz
The Day It Rained a Whale by J. Arron Small
Always Hungry by Patricia Smith
Picnic by A.C. Speyer
A Poem for Uncertainties by Mark Terrill
Memories of My Jewish Aunt by Nancy J. Thompson
How Did We Come to Be the Ones... by Rachel Webster
First Pig by Douglas Woody Woodsum
Broke by Bonnie Young
Why We Can't Use Roundup on Our Lawn by Maya Jewell Zeller

Conversations
Marc Kelly Smith
Patricia Smith

Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

Rattle is a publication of the Rattle Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the practice of poetry, and is not affiliated with any other organization.
Alan C. Fox is its founder.