Sunday, December 25, 2011

High Coup Journal - December 2011 Issue

(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)

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IN THIS ISSUE:

S.M. Abeles (international man of mystery)

Maureen Kingston (Wayne, NB)

Rose Kowaliw (Swanzey, NH)

Leo Kulinski, Jr. (Litchfield, CT)

Darcy McMurtery (Seattle, WA)

Tom Rault (Laxviken, Sweden)

Taylor Smietanski  (Oxford, OH)

Henry Visotski (Brooklyn, NY)

Chuck Von Nordheim (Dayton, OH)

-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Editor's Note:

Winter and presents:
everything is late this year,
just like this issue.

-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Rose Kowaliw

The Perfect Christmas Tree

Trudging through the snow
Winds blowing, twenty below
Picked the closest tree


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Taylor Smietanski

No Shave November
Is the way I like to roll
Time for a razor


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Maureen Kingston

her Louboutin heels
at the New Year’s Eve party
ice pick his resolve
  
special of the day--
beef gravy over French fries
the truck stop madam


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Henry Visotski 
 
Bare knuckle boxing:
Not good, particularly
When you’re uninsured


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Chuck Von Nordheim 

brown leaf and green lawn
poke through the first snow’s white crust--
winter hesitates

peppermint slobber
makes your nephew’s face sticky--
merry Christmas hug

precipitation’s
possible forms shapes all plans--
won’t go if it snows


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Leo Kulinski, Jr.

Ducks are on the pond
Thoreau signals for the curve
Dice K. wheels, deals, strike


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

S.M. Abeles

Drinking in stillness
A cure for mental illness
Or the next best thing

For once it appears
it was the sun, not me, that
had one too many 


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Darcy McMurtery

Home Depot

Waiting in line with
a shovel, rope, bag of lime.
I forgot my bag.

New Math

You call me "my one."
I know there are other girls.
Some things don't add up.


Incarcerated 
in the jury waiting room.
Where's my orange jump suit?


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Tom Rault

As I lose my hair
my patience is growing thin       
in the barber shop.

It knows no malice,
it knows no pity either:
the crow wants to eat.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-



December 2011 AWESOME SAUCE: S.M. Abeles

That bastard autumn,
destroyer of low necklines,
slayer of bare legs


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Next month, stay tuned for
experiments with Haikubes...
send in your stuff, too!


highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com




Tuesday, November 1, 2011

High Coup Journal - November 2011 Issue


(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

IN THIS ISSUE:

Robin Burke (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.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Robin Burke

falling

colorful dead leaves
silently murder my grass
mulching makes me smile


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Eli Van Sickel

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


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Rose Kowaliw

Two Strikes...

Dinner was a bust
Forgot his wallet, again
No more web dating


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Tom Rault 

This doormat will not
talk, otherwise it could tell
some dirty stories.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Sherry Steiner

a shocking secret
a forgiven yesterday
a silk robe nine bucks


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Henry Visotski 

who owes favors where,
ass and elephant debate.
meanwhile, the sun sets


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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.



-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Anthony Ward

Reflection

searching for myself
while finding my reflection
right where I left it




-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-



November 2011 AWESOME SAUCE: Tom Rault





If I bump my head
once more on that attic beam
I will saw it off.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

One upcoming month
to squeeze in more nasty storms
and nasty haiku.

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com


Thursday, October 20, 2011

2012 Pushcart Prize Nominations

We at High Coup Journal and Drafty Attic Press would like to announce our 2012 nominations for the Pushcart Prize:

Toby Bielawski, Five Kinds of Fences

Dariel Suarez

Annie Perconti

Michael Morris

Sara Bickley

Bob Lucky


We wish these authors the best of luck in the competition.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Five Questions for a First-Grade Teacher: Jayme Copeland

This iteration of Five Questions comes with an appeal from an educator in my hometown, Terre Haute, IN.  High Coup Journal publishes the tiniest of poems, so we're also committed to helping out the tiniest of students.  Thus we encourage you to donate to first-grade teacher Jayme Copeland's DonorsChoose project to supply her classroom with important literacy materials in a high-poverty school district.  Anyway, let's see what she has to say...




1. They say that "everything I ever needed to know, I learned in kindergarten."  Why, then, do you teach first grade?

Teaching first grade is amazing, and I love every minute of it. I feel like I am laying the foundation for everything they are going to learn from this point on. I love seeing the looks on my students faces when they read for the first time-- there is nothing like it.

2. How much of a difference is the reading level of a kid going into first grade and a kid finishing 1st grade, usually?


At the beginning of the school year, some students come in still not knowing all of their letters and sounds, while some come in reading basic sight words and others reading small chapter books. I try to focus in on what each student needs, so hopefully by the end of the year students are able to know all letters and sounds and are able to read most first grade sight words. Meanwhile, other students are beginning to read books on their own, and for my friends already reading chapter books, we work on fluency and comprehension.

3. Why, then, is your fundraising project so important?

In these tough economic times, budgets are being cut and we don’t have money for extra supplies. One item I have on my list is a Toobaloo. Toobaloos look like a phone, and students read into them and can hear themselves read. This makes it easier for them to self-correct, which in turn will help them become more fluent readers. To purchase a set of these on my own would be very expensive.

I also have supplies listed that will help my students become better writers. They have such great stories, but until they can read and write they cannot express themselves on paper. I spend a lot of money on simple supplies for my students-- that it makes it difficult to purchase bigger items. DonorsChoose.org gives me the opportunity to put my wish list up and then generous donors help my wish list become a reality. My students and I are very grateful for the donations we receive from DonorsChoose!

4. A lot of picture books are written in poetic form.  Do you have any favorite picture books you use with your students?

I have two favorite books that I love sharing with my students every year. The Polar Express, written by Chris Van Allsburg, and Where the Wild Things Are, written by Maurice Sendak. Both books really bring out the kid in me, and for my students they let their imaginations soar.

5. Do you think you might get your kids to write a few haiku?  It's just 5/7/5 syllables... maybe there's a budding poet in the room!

My students have a poetry center that they go to each week, and we practice poetry a lot. I have never tried haiku with my students, but I think with a little guidance and a lot of practice they would be able to write a haiku... or at least give it a good shot!




JAYME COPELAND graduated from Indiana State University with a B.S. in Elementary Education. She has been teaching for seven years and has been teaching first grade for the last four years.  She enjoys the opportunity to mentor future teachers from Indiana State University and also enjoys being involved with Student Council.  She and her students love Friday afternoons because they are able to show off their creative side by singing, dancing, or sharing their artwork.


Saturday, October 1, 2011

High Coup Journal - October 2011 Issue


(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

IN THIS ISSUE:

Art Bupkis (Gainesville, FL)

Courtney Davis (Freehold, NJ)

Amanda Hillenburg (Sherbrooke, QC, Canada)

Rose Kowaliw (Swanzey, NH)

Chuck Von Nordheim (Dayton, OH)

Annie Perconti (Louisville, KY)

Amelia Ritner (Hinsdale, MA)

John Tustin (New Hyde Park, NY)


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Editor's Note:

Snow, a white pillow
waits to smother leaves as red
as an infant's cheeks.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Courtney Davis

It’s Rosh Hashana
wishing you a very sweet
and healthy new year


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

John Tustin

All your dark dark hair
On my pillow. Like curtains
Smothering sorrow
  
You packed up and left
Watching me disintegrate
And now I am dust

Fill my emptiness
With your liquid compassion
Flood me with your love

Your face in the sun
Your face in the light of moon
I will take them both



-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Art Bupkis

(Mr. Bupkis prefaced his submission with the following explanation: "Well, Yankees, you may be 'anal' about 5/7/5, citing 'English', but these ain't in English, they're in Cracker... Cracker is terse: 3/5/3.")

on that pine
that damn crow’s landed
cock the gun


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Rose Kowaliw

 Worst Bridesmaid Gown

 Hot pink, puffy sleeves
with matching shoes in satin.
Big pink marshmallow.



-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Amanda Hillenburg

#firstworldproblems

Protests nationwide?
But a celeb did something
Report that instead.

Children are starving
Who cares? Facebook changed my feed.
brb raging


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Annie Perconti

Slipping hips into
belts hung low, laced with language 
she's ready to flow.

He's an eye-drifter--
Slipping low into places 
the world cannot know. 

Thoughts form like stitches.
The machinist of the mind
connects truth with lies.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Amelia Ritner

The cold morning air
Tea in hand, cat at my feet
The winter begins.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Chuck Von Nordheim

spectral fog shimmers
above lamp-lit wet blacktop--
autumn’s grey tint grows

helmeted ranks break
through butcher paper banners--
homecoming heralds

drive past corn stubble
see leaves rage yellow and red--
autumn’s last warm day


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-


October 2011 AWESOME SAUCE: John Tustin

Like riding lightning
I love you differently
But I love you both


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Best of luck to all
coming up with new ideas
for haiku and life.

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com





Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Editorial: Silly Words, Serious Words

This editorial is part two in our continuing battle over the nature of the haiku.  Read part one here.

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BRIAN MORTON:

I cut my teeth as a student-translator working on short, humorous, lewd poems by Catullus, and long, bombastic, epic poetry by Virgil.  I remember adults worrying whether the stray, horndog, jibes of an ancient Roman should really count as literature, yet decades later it has far more meaning to me than the Virgil does, although I won’t insult him either.  High minded satire has always managed to sneak into the artistic canon, but there is something about low-class buffoonery, even when honed to precision, that has always been suspicious... And well, High Coup Journal could certainly be accused of low-class buffoonery...

Japan has a long tradition of poetry in the form of short terse poems or stanzas.  The renga for example dates back to the 700s, and at first glance might be mistaken for a collection of haiku.  It begins with a tight stanza with a 5-7-5 syllable structure.  But the heart of renga is to be collaborative poetry.  One poet begins with a 5-7-5 verse and then the next add a 7-7 verse, and the next adds another 5-7-5 and so on, riffing and changing as they go.  The point wasn’t maximum impact in a minimum of syllables, but kicking off a process of taking turns and exploring, of coping with change.  By the 1600s, perhaps earlier, we get hokku or “starting verses,” the initial verses of a renga, start being used alone by themselves.  Here focused impact does seem to be a large part of the point and appeal.  Or we get haibun (poetry and prose together) and haiga (poetry and painting together), where the laconic poems, typically in hokku form, comment on the more flowing prose or painting around them.

Then in the 1890s, Masaoka Shiki decides that it is time to “modernize” this poetic tradition.  He coins the term haiku (an abbreviation of haikai no ku, or verse of haikai) as a replacement for the older term hokku, partly as an admission that most of these poems are not written to be the beginning of a collaboration.  But, he also codifies how he thinks haiku ought to be.  He thinks their essence is “cutting” (kiru), a juxtaposition between 2 words ideas or images with a strong “cutting word” (kireji) both connecting and separating them.  Things like the 5-7-5 structure, or the traditional seasonality reference, were secondary for him, part of the definition, but not really key to the essence.  He worried that far too much trite and hackneyed crap poetry was being written and published, and used the phrase tsukinami (literally, “monthly”) for this terrible phenomena, a reference both to monthly feminine flows, and to monthly magazines and poetry readings he loathed.  If we let Shiki guide our understanding of haiku in English, then it would probably be fair to say that a key feature of haiku is that they not be published in monthly magazines or presented at monthly poetry readings.  Shiki himself had no patience for silly hokku or haiku, advocating instead the shasei style, which thinks of haiku as sort of nature sketches in words.

But Shiki and his contemporary allies don’t really get to define haiku in English-- even though he coined the term-- because most of what we think of as haiku today in English wasn’t haiku in his sense: it only gets called haiku retroactively.  Basho, Buson, and Issa all wrote before Shiki’s change of nomenclature, and all three would have called their works hokku and would have disagreed with Shiki about what was central to the poems.  Heck, Buddhism (of several different styles) was a key feature of each of these three masters (and much of the earlier renga-hokku-haiku tradition), but it was something that Shiki felt haiku needed to gain distance from, as not in keeping with Japan’s modernization.

So when we acculturate this notion of haiku to a new century or a new language or continent what needs to remain the same and what can change?  Must we keep Shiki’s definition even when it doesn’t fit many of the classics we look to? Do we keep the 5-7-5 structure? The centrality of cut?  The seasonality reference?  The invitation to longer collaboration?  The link between man and nature? The ideological struggles between Zen Buddhism and Pureland Buddhism? Maybe we should build in Shiki's contempt for earlier Japanese poetry in the style or his preference for shasei-style... Nawh, poetry always adapts to the needs of the time and the society, while trying also to remain rooted in its own tradition.  So what are the parts of the rengu-hokku -haibun-haiku-etc. tradition that can still meaningfully speak to Americans on the edge of the 21th century?  Is the shasei style understanding that haiku is about "recording the essence of a moment keenly perceived, in which nature is linked to human nature" something that can still speak to 21st century Americans? SURE! Lots of that kind of haiku is still written and still read and still has power and meaning, and still seems to draw from its roots in Japanese poetry.  If anything, there is enough of that for it to seem overdone, it has plenty of venues.

So the bigger question is this: does silly, flippant stuff with minimal emphasis on season or man-nature themes genuinely draw from the Japanese poetry tradition of the renga-hokku-haibun-haiku line? YES! It is the heart of the poetic style called haikai no renga (unorthodox or comic renga, often abbreviated haikai), staunchly defended by Basho as being part of the poetic spirit (fuga) in the 1600s, and had plenty of practitioners in later decades as well.  For Basho, comic playfulness was essential for holding the right balance between being involved in the world and yet also in some sense detached from it.  Portraying the life of commoners, beggars, traveler, farmers, herbalists, was part of seeing the world with eyes searching for beauty, rather than seeking beauty in formalness and abstractions.

We have classics in the tradition, like Basho

now then, let's go out 
to enjoy the snow... until
I slip and fall! [1688] 

or

even while chopping
the dried herbs
she’s day-dreaming 

That last one is from Yaba, one of Bassho's students in a round of renga from 1693 on Street Hawkers. It has no seasonal reference, no connection between man and nature, no Buddhism on display.  Yet it records a precise moment via terse words, it explores the emotional depth of the moment, and does so partly via its flippant humor.

or again Basho (1685)

His go strategy 
comes to him
two days later 

Good Lord, change the reference to Mario Kart and that one could easily have come straight out of the High Coup Journal!

If you want to argue that High Coup publishes "unorthodox" haiku, no one will disagree. If you want to argue that they aren't really haiku at all, properly speaking, I will point to Basho who was actually DEIFIED by the Shinto bureaucracy, and let you battle with verse and fisticuffs against his shade.

If you want to argue that comic rengu existed but that hokku or rengu are not real haiku, and haiku should not be primarily comic, then you cut off your tradition with your own sword and deserve your humorless fate.  A common version of this argument is to argue that the comic stuff focusing on human foibles is "really" "senryu" not "haiku" as the Haiku Society of America does. This is a terrible misunderstanding. "Senryu" just means "poetry in the style of Senryu Karai" a particular 18th century Japanese poet.  Just because something is in the style of Senryu does not mean it isn't ALSO haiku.  Further, humorous poetry in the Japanese tradition is certainly going strong even before Senryu, as my Basho examples show. This would be as bass-ackwards as arguing that any humorous poetry in sonnet form should be called a "Shakespeare" and not counted as a sonnet at all, and that we must make a rigorous distinction between "Shakespeares" and "Sonnets" although of course admitting that Shakespeare himself wrote in both styles. Tommyrot! This is the spirit of overweening academia seeking to choke out what is living and vibrant in the traditions we have been handed by the multi-faceted humans that wrote before us.  In Japan, as in Rome or England, the great poets have worked with both silliness and seriousness.

If you argue, that the English notion of haiku refers to the orthodox haiku only, rather than drawing from the broader Japanese tradition, then you are simply misunderstanding the situation on the ground in American education, and who gets to decide the usage of terms in the US, as well as the body of 20th century haiku in English. We have no Academie Francaise to delineate normative meanings apart from usage, and you have already lost the battle on usage. Americans regularly use the American term haiku to refer to both serious haiku and silly haiku, and frequently admire BOTH.

Our society often disrespects humor and silliness, especially in high culture side of our society such as academia or the fine arts.  No one in showbiz doubts that comedy is as lucrative as seriousness, but real critical commentary on comedy is much rarer than for more serious artistic forms, and comedians and comedy writers rarely come to those professions through academic theatre or writing programs.  Even in philosophy, as I’ve argued elsewhere, silliness is one of the most underrated of virtues.  One reason is that silliness often subverts existing systems of authority, especially when authority is based more on hard work in the past (and thus credentials), than on ardent love of the topic (amateurism).  Thus, silliness can seem especially threatening to those who value professionalism.  So it makes sense that organizations who were fighting for respect for haiku, and for respect for themselves as professional poets, might want to distance themselves from the sillier side of the tradition, which might seem frivolous, low class or even (gasp) unprofessional.  Nonetheless, silliness is a classic strategy for creativity and coping, helping us to maintain creative tension between genuine engagement with the minutia of life, and detachment from our preconceptions about daily life.  In poetry, silliness of spirit is part of the balance between observation of life and insightful commentary that helps give our poetry depth.

Haiku in English today simply includes plenty of examples of both orthodox haiku focusing on exploring the poetic spirit through sketches of keenly perceived moments typically of human-nature interactions, and unorthodox haiku focusing on exploring the poetic spirit through wry wit typically commenting on common life and pop culture. Both of these American poetic forms are exploring the poetic spirit, and both are firmly rooted in the Japanese tradition of renga-hokku-haibun-haiga-senryu-haikai-haiku. And in English we frequently use the English term haiku as a short hand for the whole glorious multiplex tradition.




Dr. BRIAN MORTON is a homemaker and ex-philosopher, currently involved with the Terre Haute Street Poets.  His poetry has appeared in Subterranean, and a few other poetry mags long ago. His academic work on poetry has appeared in Literae: A Newsletter of Literature and Translation and the University of Idaho colloquium series.


Thursday, September 1, 2011

High Coup Journal - September 2011 Issue

(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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)


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Editor's Note:

Hurricane season,
a sloppy kiss from your aunt
who never visits.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Evan Chow

Step on bathroom scale.
Darn! Well, let me get my wrench.
Ah, that’s much better.


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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?


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Adam Tetelman

The roads are all closed
Danger lurks around each turn
Time for a roadtrip


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

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


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Geoff Pope

husband eats his first
Oyster Burger while the wife
(milk)shakes her sweet head

-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Amanda Hillenburg

Social media 
Great for broadcasting chaos 
Without hazard pay

Who needs milk and eggs? 
Liquor is more important 
Non-perishable!


-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-



September 2011 AWESOME SAUCE: Adam Tetelman


Pounding storms hit hard
the students getting hammered
straight through the storm's eye





-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-


Soon, before the next
monster storm destroys us all,
send in your haiku.

highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com