Got fish? No? Then read
Friday, August 6, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
High Coup Journal - August 2010 Issue
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
IN THIS ISSUE:
Joseph Carfagno (Fairfield, CT)
Andy Cognata (West Lafayette, IN)
Michael Frissore (Oro Valley, AZ)
Rosemary Foster (Bloomington, IN)
Amy Harris (West Lafayette, IN)
Kim Keith (Gold Canyon, AZ)
Lisa McClintock (Sheridan, WY)
Ray Scanlon (Rehoboth, MA)
Don Thackery (Dexter, MI)
Maggie Wheeler (Terre Haute, IN)
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Editor’s Note:
Despite moving north,
August still feels hot as hell
August still feels hot as hell
in Grandma's attic.
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Maggie Wheeler
Round Kick to the jaw
Crazy bitch knocked me out cold.
Concussions suck ass.
The cat stares at me
With fish running through his brain.
Duh, I just fed you!
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Lisa McClintock
A message sent, not
really meant. Too late now for
feeble excuses.
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Kim Keith
In Need of Salvation (and a Podiatrist)
My feet have callused
cracks, so I worry about
my immortal sole.
Taste Test
Murder on a bun
or bean-curd-veggie-burger?
The cows win—and lose.
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Rosemary Foster
So friggin' tasty
Freshly slaughtered pineapple
Bleed into my mouth
Rain steaming concrete
Washing my dirty skin clean
Born again again
Shit closed captioning
How dare you crap out on me
My deaf ass needs you
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Michael Frissore
Changing Diapers
The difference between
Comedy and tragedy?
Being peed on and...
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Amy Harris
Gas stations pepper
A great divide too wide to
Conquer or enslave
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Joseph Carfagno
Stalled in the hallway
Thinking my murderous thoughts
No weapon at hand
AM Consonance
Radio actor speaking
Tires or tooth repair
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Don Thackery
conceive an image
write three lines to make haiku
trivial pursuit
spring rains make roots wake
birds return for the warmth’s sake
my dry old joints ache
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Andy Cognata
Flordia is hot,
A grave for the unprepared.
Ice cream is God's love.
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Ray Scanlon
Clothesline
Clothesline in March breeze,
cotton breathes wintry freshness.
Spider in my shorts.
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
August 2010 AWESOME SAUCE: Kim Keith
Forgotten
You ask for my name
as I call you Grandfather—
Alzheimer’s stole it.
-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Send in your haiku!
September is coming soon,
right along with school.
highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Teaser
It's the 17th again.... so here's your scheduled teaser, this time from Kim Keith of Gold Canyon, AZ:
Forgotten
You...
That's all you get.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Review: The God of Small Losses
. Georgetown, KY: Finishing Line, 2010. 28pp.Something has irked me recently as I've been perusing the world of literary haiku: nobody seems to give the rigid 5-7-5 form much love. It's not so much that I want people to slavishly obey it (because, yes, it's only an adaptation of the Japanese rules). But I just don't tend to see many journals that actually print something that fits the pattern. We can serve art and meter at the same time, no?
Darla Crist seems to think so.
Her chapbook, The God of Small Losses, does examine the traditional nature themes of haiku, as in an excerpt from her series "The Insect Suite":
The firefly lodges
His complaint in the barley,
Sparks of loneliness:
Fireflies are scholars
of the language of lightning,
the Morse code of love.
But instead of allowing these natural observations to remain in the detached world of "nature poetry," she examines nature in situ, complete with the people who actually live in rural areas. And it's this quality of Crist's work that makes it so refreshing. Cherry blossoms and crocus bulbs are nice, but the impact of humankind dwells in that same landscape.
What It Means to Be Haunted
Solitary shoes
Asleep on the road's shoulder--
Whose feet once wore them?
One of my favorite poems from the bunch, "Powerball," is set not in an orchard or a meadow but in a mini-mart. Still, the levels of attention to detail are impressive, like the man "rubbing the tickets/ like rosary beads" and the description of "dreams and quarters together--/ mixed with Mountain Dew." She then makes a sweeping statement that could well be one of the best definitions of the Hoosier experience I've heard:
In lottery land,
Powerball is king, sporting
A belt made of corn.
The peace of traditional haiku is replaced with an anxious yearning to fill a spiritual void. Because the idyllic countryside that so many tourists come to visit during the Covered Bridge Festival hides poverty and stagnation beneath its rustic charm.
Trees and flowers and hills, yes. But also mini-marts and coal mines and laundromats.
The name of the book can be found in the poem "Laundromat," which I think is a good way to wrap up the review. Check out The God of Small Losses. It's a superb collection of poetry and a positive example of Hoosier regionalism.
Laundromat
Perfumed with soap, cheap
Cigarette smoke, many lives
Tumble together.
Children scrawl their names
On slates of glass and steam--
Tabula rasa.
The neighborhood creaks
With the weight of wet laundry,
Cylinders and drums:
A place of prayer
To the god of small losses--
Stockings without mates.
FINAL RATING:
5/5 AWESOME SAUCES
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
New Associate Editor - Caitlin Martin
We here at High Coup Journal (who am I kidding? It's just been me up until now) would like to welcome our new associate editor, Caitlin Martin.
We'll get you a bio as soon as she does. :)
--Miller
EDIT: Caitlin's bio is available here.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
High Coup Journal - July 2010 Issue
(Photo by Ann Wright, Plymouth, IN)
-oOo
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)
-oOo
Editor’s Note:
A time for new things,
like picking a new ice cream
or dropping the soap.
-oOo
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
-oOo
Aaron Owens
Tryst
Debbie can’t find out.
Long. Firm. White cream fills my mouth.
Gotta love Twinkies.
-oOo
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.
-oOo
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.
-oOo
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.
-oOo
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?
July 2010 AWESOME SAUCE: Aaron Owens
The Little Boy’s Nightmare
Surrounded by balls
A dozen sweaty bodies
Trapped in the “Ball Pit”
-oOo
Send in your haiku!
August won't just write itself
(unless I'm on crack)!
highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com
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