High Coup Journal - September 2011 Issue

(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Evan Chow (San Francisco, CA)

Amanda Hillenburg (Sherbrooke, QC, Canada)

Kevin James (Terre Haute, IN)

Rose Kowaliw (Swanzey, NH)

Bob Lucky (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

Geoff Pope (Renton, WA)

Adam Tetelman (Troy, NY)

Chuck Von Nordheim (Dayton, OH)

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Editor's Note:

Hurricane season,

a sloppy kiss from your aunt

who never visits.

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Chuck Von Nordheim

one final brain freeze

caused by cherry flavored ice—

Dairy Queen closes

hurricanes bulldoze

human homes in new places—

make way for sea rise

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Evan Chow

Step on bathroom scale.

Darn! Well, let me get my wrench.

Ah, that’s much better.

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Kevin James

How many times son...

Lock the door to your bedroom...

when you want "me" time

Who's your kid's father?

Maury has your answers now

Only cost? Your pride.

Newton Lied to us

He discovered gravity

by his plumber's pants

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Rose Kowaliw

Forever Young

Wrinkles come with age

sure as hell won’t be for me

not when there's Botox.

Ha Ha Ha

Manhattan rich bitch

wearing last year’s Manolos

what was she thinking?

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Adam Tetelman

The roads are all closed

Danger lurks around each turn

Time for a roadtrip

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Bob Lucky

three days of cold rain –

a flock of sheep stop to drink

from a deep pothole

a night of fireflies –

the internet connection

flickers on and off

the moon lost in clouds –

twisting the hair in my ear

at the long stop light

cold steady drizzle –

watching the dog lick herself

over and over

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Geoff Pope

husband eats his first

Oyster Burger while the wife

(milk)shakes her sweet head

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Amanda Hillenburg

Social media 

Great for broadcasting chaos 

Without hazard pay

Who needs milk and eggs? 

Liquor is more important 

Non-perishable!

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September 2011 AWESOME SAUCE: Adam Tetelman

Pounding storms hit hard

the students getting hammered

straight through the storm's eye

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Soon, before the next

monster storm destroys us all,

send in your haiku.

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com

High Coup Journal - April 2011 Issue

(Photo actually NOT by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN.  This is an anonymous photo.)

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Salvatore Buttaci (Princeton, WV)

Tom Carbaugh (Plymouth, IN)

Sarah Dubinsky (Dunellen, NJ )

Samuel Franklin (Terre Haute, IN)

Rick Hartwell (Moreno Valley, California)

Kevin James (Terre Haute, IN)

Edward Jones (Stevens Point, WI)

Hal O’Leary (Wheeling, WV)

Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert (Norfolk, MA)

Mitzi Sicking (Midland, TX)

Jari Thymian (Aurora, CO)

Henry Visotski (Brooklyn, NY)

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Editor's Note:

SPAM: discovered love,

just like bad haiku, I think.

So sweet, so salty.

People might make fun of SPAM for being gross or slimy or covered in "spucus" (the fat that congeals at the top of a can that's so akin to mucus), but what has been enlightening about this contest is the fact that we've gotten some Hawaiians and WWII veterans who really stood up and said, Hey, SPAM is a food we like.  As with anything (apart from haiku), we recommend SPAM in moderation.  But just as they say "there are no atheists in foxholes," we suspect there are few vegans.

EDIT: Strike that.  One of our veteran poets confirmed that he is now a vegetarian.  Twelve years in the SPAM-a-lot army may have done that to him.  And as for the contest, one good sport mentioned, "Although I am sad to not have won the grand prize, I can console myself with the fact that the grand prize was SPAM."  Thank you all for submitting!

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Tom Carbaugh

It isn't Kosher,

but it's got the sodium

that your body needs.

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Sarah Dubinsky

How SPAM-alicious

The can's rendering of you

All pig and all parts

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Samuel Franklin 

Sacrificial SPAM

Flesh-cube, poor piglets

were spiced and mashed to make you. 

Thanks, piggy martyrs.

Best Sex Ever

Pink ‘neath her panties

reeked of slimy SPAM. Greasy

screw, lunch is on you.   

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Edward Jones

 SPAM is like pussy:

more time's spent getting it out

than in eating it

SPAM is like pussy:

more men have died eating it

than have needed to

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Salvatore Buttaci

mostly pork shoulder

chopped in a glaze of aspic

sandwiched in white bread

a simple wedding--

they toast with empty glasses

and dine on hot SPAM

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Mitzi Sicking

Spam-alicious

Fry it up and slide

Between two white bread slices.

Slap your mama good.

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Henry Visotski

Hey kids, daddy's home!

Delicious SPAM for dinner.

Now we feast like kings.

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Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert

On a post-war Earth--

nuclear fallout; SPAM mutates;

it becomes sentient.

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Kevin James

The Hawaiian steak

Should be something tropical

Not spiced shoulder meat

Here! Salty war meat!

It’s great food for the road and

Helps fight the Nazis!

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Hal O’Leary

Warmth

Warmth in a frozen

fox-hole, comfort surrounds us

my K-ration spam.

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Rick Hartwell

Hawaiian delight

meaty subversive mixture

canned fat concoction

Ks Cs MREs

60 years Spam goes to war

move pork futures up

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April 2011 AWESOME SAUCE and SPAM-KU SPECIAL winner: Jari Thymian

my grandma’s love-wich

homemade bread with pan-fried Spam

died, gone to heaven

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Look for SPAM all month,

and then we'll never again

tackle this topic.

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com

High Coup Journal - October 2010 Issue

(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Rosemary Foster (Bloomington, IN)

Michael Frissore (Oro Valley, AZ)

Amy Harris (West Lafayette, AZ)

Amanda Hillenburg (Sherbrooke, QC, Canada)

Kevin James (Terre Haute, IN)

Ethan Mandelkern (Mt. Shasta, CA)

Darcy McMurtery (Seattle, WA)

Christina Rodriguez (South Ozone Park, Queens, NY)

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Editor's Note:

In just a few weeks

these leaves will become more red 

than my poetry.

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Christina Rodriguez

puppy love, dear youth
lost in the shuffle of mort-
gages and children.


start off slow, they say.
take your time...time? when did time
give out luxuries?

Daddy, are you too

old for cupcakes and poems?

Too poor for Hallmark.

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Ethan Mandelkern

wet peach tastes yummy
succulent soft beautiful
damn juice stained my shirt

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Kevin James

LOOK PAPA! NO HANDS!
words you never want to hear
at a porno set


boxes vibrating
turns out it wasn't sex toys
worst birthday ever

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Rosemary Foster

Call him “she” again
And I’ll break your fucking face
Did you get that bitch?

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Amanda Hillenburg

Laser gun bullets

Three shots missing the mallard

Want to kill that dog

God! It's full of stars!
My bad, it's just dust buildup.
Play that cartridge flute!


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Amy Harris

Sweet Malaria
Fair maiden of the tropics
Once bitten, twice shy

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Darcy McMurtery

A guarantee of
long-winded discussion: I’ve
Prepared a few words.


Keep your speeches short
We can still strangle you with
A wireless mic.


Personalities
Around a board room table
Like oil and water.


A workplace romance
Will poison your well so please
Don’t shit where you eat.


Writer's Block

I can't pass a verb,
completely consonated,
must move a vowel. 

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Michael Frissore

Haiku: True Story

This guy was pissed off
by my humorous haikus
Well, fuck you, buddy.


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October 2010 AWESOME SAUCE: Christina Rodriguez

Hello denial...
Don't you look pretty today
in your coat of lies!

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Tell the bogeyman
that you've sent in some haiku
or he will eat you.

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com

High Coup Journal - September 2010 Issue

(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Shana Dennis (Terre Haute, IN)

Amy Harris (West Lafayette, IN)

Amanda Hillenburg (Sherbrooke, QC, Canada)

Kevin James (Terre Haute, IN)

Julie Kelsey (Germantown, MD)

Vinnie Kinsella (Vancouver, WA)

Taylor Lampton (New Brunswick, NJ)

Mike Lushbaugh (Terre Haute, IN)

Nicole Reich (New Brunswick, NJ)

Ray Scanlon (Rehoboth, MA)

Richard Stevenson (Lethbridge, AB, Canada)

Maggie Wheeler (Terre Haute, IN)

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Editor's Note:

Picking grapes is not

the romantic pastoral

task that poets claim.

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Mike Lushbaugh

Summer is settled
Humid thunderstorms all day
swamp ass forever


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Ray Scanlon

"Cheer up, cheerily,"
exclaim the robins at dawn.
Goddamn fucking birds.


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Kevin James

The sparkling bowl
never stays that way for long
after the kegger

Dancing Fool enters
does The Worm down the aisle
your wedding's ruined


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Maggie Wheeler

Cat in a trash bin
Woman won't give a reason
Throw her in instead!


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(These next two haiku
are inspired by a hate
of FOX host Glenn Beck.)

Shana Dennis

Little man spreads hate
Dances for the camera
Dance, attention whore!


Amanda Hillenburg


Fat guy on TV
Claims to be true blue Mormon
Did it to get laid



(Read a ton more poems like these at http://www.haikuglennbeck.com/)


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Amy Harris

Cerebral Palsy?
More like a sorry excuse
For shaking all day.


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Taylor Lampton

I am in heaven.
spirals, rubbers, and stick-ons--
school supply shopping!


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Nicole Reich and Taylor Lampton

Cheetos

Splendid are the curls
Of the crunchy snack-time munch
Bathed in orange dust


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Richard Stevenson

in extended care
my dad zones out mid-sentence.
a hummingbird hovers


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Vinnie Kinsella

Limp and impotent,
The power cord came unplugged--
Too short to connect.


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Julie Kelsey

LAUNDRY DAY

racing down the stairs
greeted by the waiting arms
of your sweaty shirts


MIKEY, AGE 4

idiblockon, noun:
idiot – blockhead – moron
a poet is born


JUST FRIENDS

under a blanket
curled on the sofa with you,
my friend, Nick-at-Nite


HEARTACHE

under a full moon
we kiss at midnight, yearning
for ibuprofen


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September 2010 AWESOME SAUCE: Vinnie Kinsella

Two lines, one corner:
Basic trigonometry.
You and I converge.



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Please send us more 'ku!
We will spend all October
scaring poems up.

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com