POET ROAST: Poetry slams began in Chicago in the early 1980s under the guidance of poet Marc Smith. He was unable to reconcile himself to the introverted response of his audience, so he came up with the idea of having audience members act as judges. For better or worse, poetry slams have made their way to Tucson. So bring your sweaty tales of heartbreak to the Ace Wysocki Poetry Slam from 7 to 10 p.m. at the UA Student Union Cellar. Call 621-0764 for information. Fortunately for fragile Tucson poets, local judges are generous, and on a scale of one to 10 you'll have a hard time scoring lower than a seven. Compare yourself to Sylvia Plath and you can expect an even more enthusiastic response. EARNED REPUTATIONS: Is the West really as raucous as its long-standing reputation would have us believe? Your answer to that question probably depends on how long you've lived in the Old Pueblo. W. Lane Rogers, in his book Crimes and Misdeeds, takes us back to the "glorified gangsterism" of the West during the late-19th to mid-20th centuries with a vast collection of newspaper accounts of illicit acts by Arizona criminals. John Duncklee, another writer interested in the anarchic West, tells of his life along the U.S.-Mexico border in Coyotes I Have Known. Both writers will discuss their works at a signing from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at The Book Mark, 5001 E. Speedway. Call 881-6350 for information. RED FLAG: There's no need to put an address or even a stamp on your can of beans. Your psychic letter carrier will know where to take it. On Saturday, May 11, Tucsonans with mailboxes are asked to help out with the letter carriers' food drive by sticking your can in the mail--your canned food donation, in the mailbox, that is. And don't forget to put up the flag. SENSELESS EXPERIMENTS: Regardless of how proud you are at your wax-free ears, you may not be hearing a smidgen more sound than your clogged-ear counterpart. To prove this to you, artist Jaybird Verkamp has developed an experimental music project that suffocates all the extra-auditory senses, squelching sight in particular. In the absence of competing senses, Verkamp hopes to give personality to even the most mundane sounds. In conjunction with his project Black Chamber, there will be a short series of films by A.M. Fejes entitled Black Times Black and Some, all emphasizing the role of darkness in making motion pictures visible to the human eye. Show times are 8 and 9 p.m. Sunday, May 12, at Bero Gallery, 41 S. Sixth Ave. For more information call 792-0313.

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