High Coup Journal - November 2011 Issue

(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Robin Burke (Terre Haute, IN)

Mrs. Copeland’s First Grade Class (Terre Haute, IN) 

Rose Kowaliw (Swanzey, NH)

Bob Lucky (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

Dennis Maulsby (Ames, IA)

Tom Rault (Laxviken, Sweden)

Sherry Steiner (Housatonic, MA) 

Eli Van Sickel (Normal, IL)

Chuck Von Nordheim (Dayton, OH)

Anthony Ward (Durham, England)

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Editor's Note:

Hear the powerless

crying out for warmth and aid

in Connecticut.

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Robin Burke

falling

colorful dead leaves

silently murder my grass

mulching makes me smile

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Mrs. Copeland’s First Grade Class

We saw a turkey

so colorful and chunky

he was so funky

On a spooky night

I once saw a haunted house

I ran for my mom

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Eli Van Sickel

I check my Facebook
to reassure myself of
my safety, I think

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Bob Lucky

bad weather forecast

the morning newspaper lies

bleeding in the rain

Friday at the beach

the bikini-clad tourists

are the attraction

the TV blasting

both my parents sound asleep

in their new twin beds

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Rose Kowaliw

Two Strikes...

Dinner was a bust

Forgot his wallet, again

No more web dating

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Tom Rault 

This doormat will not

talk, otherwise it could tell

some dirty stories.

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Chuck Von Nordheim

wind-blown leaves dance past
lawns decked with campaign slogans—
gray days and choices


fall sunlight tints days
amber as an old photo—
memories seem new


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Sherry Steiner

a shocking secret
a forgiven yesterday
a silk robe nine bucks

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Henry Visotski 

who owes favors where,

ass and elephant debate.

meanwhile, the sun sets

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Dennis Maulsby

Arms and legs entwined.

Man♂…woman♀, so united,     

yet so far apart.

Shouting men place bets.

On a red dirt patch of ground

cricket sumos fight.

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Anthony Ward

Reflection

searching for myself

while finding my reflection

right where I left it

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November 2011 AWESOME SAUCE: Tom Rault

If I bump my head

once more on that attic beam

I will saw it off.

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One upcoming month

to squeeze in more nasty storms

and nasty haiku.

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com

Five Questions for a Folk Hero: Eli Van Sickel

We'd like to start off Volume Two's series of community interviews by interviewing a man who straddles the line between fact and fiction, anonymity and pure legend.  He's Eli Van Sickel, and he's one of the great heroes of the Terre Haute, Indiana, indie folk scene, and he was published in our first issue.  (Yes, Terre Haute, the city that gave to the world Eugene V. Debs and took from the world, by way of the Federal Death Row, Timothy McVeigh.)  Let's see what he has to say...



1. How many songs would you say you've written and performed?

I've written about 20-25 songs since I started playing and writing almost 6 years ago. I've performed most of them live.


2. What are some similarities between playing acoustic guitar and writing haiku?

There is a spirituality about it that people tend to forget. It is very open to interpretation and the player/poet has incredible creative freedom, though the rules of the style have to be meticulously followed.


3. You're about to begin your master's in Theater at Illinois State University.  Are there any types of theater you would associate with haiku? 

Well, Japanese theatre, obviously. I am fascinated/intimidated by Noh plays; it's a very dense, beautiful style of theatre that hasn't changed in centuries. I'm also a huge fan of dramatic/poetic realism, minimalistically staged; that kind of stuff really doesn't hand the audience much on a silver platter, but rather requires them to interpret the work.


4. How will the Legend of Eli Van Sickel read in 20 years?

Hopefully it will say that he is happily married with children, serves as either the artistic director of a non-profit theatre or the chair of a university theatre department, and continues to write and perform music. Also, his books Deaf Theatre In America and The Theatrical Legacy of Clifford Odets are both New York Times Best Sellers. A Tony Award or two would be nice as well.


5. Do you think Terre Haute's diaspora of wayward artists will ever truly be able to come home?

I think Terre Haute is definitely growing as an artists' home. Slowly but surely, it is becoming safer to "let your freak flag fly," as it were, and create. However, many of us (myself included) find that there's only so much that you can do in Terre Haute and so long you can stay here before it's time to take the next step and move on; but I think you'll find that anywhere.



ELI VAN SICKEL is going to send us a bio.  For now, check out his music here.

High Coup Journal - July 2010 Issue

(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Rosemary Foster (Bloomington, IN)

Marti Fuerst (Rapid City, SD)

Quinn Gilbert (Shelburne, VT)

Jacob Glenn

Aaron Owens (Terre Haute, IN)

Eli Van Sickel (Terre Haute, IN)

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Editor’s Note:

A time for new things,
like picking a new ice cream
or dropping the soap.

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Jacob Glenn

Feb. 23

balloon removal
can i borrow your blow gun?
goodbye helium

Feb. 23

oh my sweet coffee
make me a jitterbug pro
my blood is creamy

Jan. 19

I sip my coffee
say goodbye constipation
my bowels are moved

Jan. 19

such a peaceful rain
I do value your effort
but my grass is dead

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Aaron Owens

Tryst

Debbie can’t find out.
Long. Firm. White cream fills my mouth.
Gotta love Twinkies.

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Marti Fuerst

Mucus advances
seizing nasal passageways.
I wave white Kleenex.

Dog barks at darkness.
Alarm must be on the fritz.
Cyborg-vet needed.

Take solace in that
when the zombies rise to feed
these dopes will die first.

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Eli Van Sickel

Submitting this work
For your consideration
Please show me some love

Dog shit and flowers:
Two things that smell different
-ly to me at night.

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Quinn Gilbert

Signal from a Shattered Earth

Last vestige of us:
You the plumber?...Yeah babe, I'm
Here to lay some pipe.

Life

This is my treatise
on life, and it’s pretty deep:
Alarm clock rings…Fuck.

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Rosemary Foster

Hearing you have sex
Makes me want to fucking puke
So please mom shut up

OMG goth kids
Scary ass mother fuckers
Done up like corpses

Public swimming pool
Chemical filled oasis
Bikini clad whores

I know it says to
taste the rainbow but could you
stop licking my shirt?

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July 2010 AWESOME SAUCE: Aaron Owens

The Little Boy’s Nightmare

Surrounded by balls

A dozen sweaty bodies

Trapped in the “Ball Pit”

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Send in your haiku!

August won't just write itself

(unless I'm on crack)!

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com