EMPTY SUIT by Jock Callous

EMPTY SUIT by Jock Callous
by Inkberrow
04/04/2010, 5:23 PM #

Shimmering spires of glass
and steel,
in muted testimony, rest.
In silent shrouds
and shattered dreams,
to tell a husband's worst,
and best.
Enjoined in hope
and bitter will.

Beneath the altar,
cold and dark,
strong hearts and weak
together beat,
where once I stood
in wondered awe,
and chased your vows
into the sky
so I could cheat.

Despair you not
my helpmeet's soul,
The hand of God
restraineth thee;
And comfort brings,
and solace gives,
to broken lives,
and faithful wives,
and those still free
to rut and troll.

Here in this place,
now lost to time,
where heroes die,
and mothers cry,
and strumpets hoot,
where now I stand
in jaded awe
and erase my vows
in an empty suit.


Copyright 2010, Heartstorm Press

Once and for all folks

Once and for all folks---there IS a Heartstorm Press.
by Inkberrow
01/19/2010, 7:07 PM #


I think everyone can agree it is well-past time to write the ending to this sordid chapter of Fray history, and with this post I propose to do just that. Despite some uncharitable suggestions to the contrary over the years, I have learned not only that Heartstorm Press is a legitimate publishing house, but that its very name reflects the heroic struggle of its primary contributor to overcome seemingly unbearable heartbreak and loss, as the result of a painful divorce in late middle age. Loneliness, self-doubt, apprehension, anger, a gnawing sense of inadequacy and failure----these are the wages of virtually any divorce, under the best of circumstances. Now imagine the impact of unwished-for divorce upon a person who is otherwise the perfect person and spouse in every imaginable way. How does reconciling oneself to the Single Life Again in middle age really work for a beautiful, trim, slim, curvaceous, preternaturally youthful, witty, patriotic, progressive, multilingual, worldly, sophisticated, humor-filled, loving, generous, educated feminist yet insufficiently beloved spouse, who also happens to be a talented poet and a well-respected Fray regular?

The answer? Violent, wholesomely aggressive catharsis, by way of serial sexual improprieties and codependence with men of doubtful sincerity and worthiness, so as to inculcate a new feelings of superiority. And violent, aggressive catharsis in the form of heart-rending, stormy, lyric verse .....for Heartstorm Press, a legitimate publishing house created specifically to help pass the gall stone of divorce through creative visualization. Yea, the kidney stone of cruel failure, in the romantic relationship that matters most of all. (But let none call it a failure! More at mutual utility, if anything, a result to celebrate) Here once again after a long absence, is that signature poem which more than any other poem, by the writer who more than any other writer, made Heartstorm Press. The powerful piece which follows, by this woman, whose grit, single-mindedness, and raw courage unites with astonishing sensitivity and an undeniable poetic gift, will take the reader, like it or not, at breakneck speed through the very gamut of human emotions. And for those of us Fray regulars, a triumphant, celebrated career oeuvre is simultaneously explained and justified to anyone's satisfaction. Let no one henceforth dare question why she is what she is, or does what she is does. She shall tell us what is and is not, and we shall be the better for it, if within her ambit and good graces we are permitted to remain. Here, then, somewhat long, but well-worth the trip, is......



"N" is for Nightmares, by Colopoete (a nom de plume)
In Memoriam connubium, 2/15/98


Some nights are better
those nights when men
will come and stay,
blessing me with some company,
a respite from all this, but
some nights, men will not
come, or they come, but do not stay.

In their place slips the insidious
reminder, the chalk white
outline of Him from
the clouds, as white
as the White Cliffs of Dover,
chalky as White Sands---
though gypsum---
which so resembles tzatziki,
seen from thirty-thousand feet.

Then from the right side
of the three a.m. eye screen,
always from the right,
always one hand,
my dark quick hand
sleekly slides
the thin silver blade
(always from the right)
of a freshly sharpened knife

(like a midnight assassin, though
it is just before nine a.m.)

deftly across the neck of my
once-husband, our faithless
hawk-eyed pilot who wanted
nothing more than to fly his

elegant purple bird
across gleaming silver-blue
skies, sunny and cloud-lit,
to any place where I was not.

My dark hand completes
its slice, an elegant motion
corrupted by its deadly
mission, and
grabs the joystick
of his purple plane
as it heads for the hangar
of his glittering paramour

then, it falls to the cock-pit
floor, as my gleaming silver bird
knifes precisely into his
stunning, imperious lover,
Osterizer now.

The white neck slit,
the foul usurper's smirk
the deep blood flowing
the upscale catered food
and carafes of
Napa Valley red....all fall
together and melt,

Along with the now
black cloud, my melted
heart, complexes of
bitterness and hate,
thousands of days
thousands of nights
ten of thousands of posts
to unworthy posters on
unworthy fray boards

All surprised, all ash now
all bone, all gray now
all cloud. All dust now
one vast Cremation urn
on the mantle of a once-husband
caught fatally unaware.


Copyright Colopoete 2001, Heartstorm Press
Dedicated to all those who did not survive my marriage, and to my ex-husband, who did.

inkberrow

POLYGRIP MALFUNCTION?

POLYGRIP MALFUNCTION?
by catnapping
03/10/2009, 1:20 PM #

The glue in his Drool
from the teeth in his Face
has dripped on the Keyboard,
and gummed up the Place.

What looks like a Madman,
forever Amok,
is actually a Dipshit
whose CAPS key is STUCK.

Fray Bashed

Fray Bashed
by greeneggsnham
11/08/2008, 10:30 PM #

The Fray is filled
With righteous tools
Political Shills
Bloviating fools

Soapbox preachers
Obama hacks
Crazy screechers
John McCainiacs

Feminist hags
Liberal fags
Right-wing douchebags
And wise-ass wags

Gathered in the halls of Fray
They form a mighty host
Posting all the livelong day
Inane post after post

Scores of the anonymous
Write conspiracy, bullshit, hype
The Fray looks like Hieronymous
Bosch has finally learned to type

In a Fray forum colored black
Religious Fraysters discuss the Mist
God-fearing dopes they all jaw-jack
About things that simply don’t exist

Jesus Freaks and Frummy Jews
Ponder over all the clues
Of the capacity of Djinns
To foxtrot round the heads of pins

Thomas Paine, Fritz Gerlich, San
Tsedek, JGC all blabber
‘Bout interactions ‘tween God and man
And other superstitious jabber

In a room of ashen gray
Old fogies like Inkberrow say
“Of posts there were nary
Not fit for Alexandria’s Library

Posted on the Old Fray
Yes that was certainly the heyday”
But MichaelRyerson let’s face it
Now relies too much on cut-n-paste it

CALIF DREAMIN’ and First Hawk
Kentucky redneck Urquhart
Ranger 82 and Sgt-ROCK
And JackDallas that old Texan fart

A red room full of right-wing schlubs
Milling in their starched brown shirts
Drinking Schlitz these fascist scrubs
Salute the bust of ol’ Bull_Kurtz

From a pink room comes a throaty
Statement from Biteoftheweek
And her sister Dawn Coyote
Who rail on with Fem-nazi cheek

“You’ve fucked it up, you things with dicks
We’re confident that when our world’s
Fully administered by us chicks
You guys will see the might of Grrrls.”

In a forum dyed deep violet
Live Fraysters of an elite set
Who like to write that arty shit
Like Zeus-boy, the Fray’s Erse (half) Wit

Whacked out hippy Appollony…
Puts out druggy verbose dailies
“9/11 was all phony!!!”
“Not Bin Laden—‘twas Israelis!!”

Of theNairobiTrio
(Or ciinc) I’ll make no mention
Who is, we too well know
A whore who craves all our attention

Now I don’t want to come off mean
But how bout all those nuts and flakes
Gathered in a cave of sickly green
Their posts stem from psychotic breaks

Herr oconnel and lilmacg
Their thoughts are really fucking jambled
H_Keller and WearyWillie
Yep, these posters’ eggs are scrambled

Liberals smoking funny clover
Won’t shut up about Barack
Don’t they know the 60’s are over?
And we’ve still got troops throughout Iraq?

Schmutzie, August, artandsoul
All in room, Democrat Blue
Up against Baltmore Auriole
Spouting loads of leftist poo

Don’t forget the prole-y zeroes
In a pub hued tangerine
Dopey working first class heroes
Living a song by Bruce Springsteen

“Those damn Illegals take our jobs!”
Say JanZ (dumb) and NickD (dumber)
“Which should go to US working slobs
Chinese can have old Joe the Plumber.”

I read your literary spasms
Sometimes I takes aim and I throws
A little peanut of sarcasm
At one of you silly fuckin schmoes

I’m king of vinegar and piss
A troll, and also Lord of Spam
For the wages of TheBestofFray is…
Yours truly, Greeneggsnham

Have a Nice Day!

What's in YOUR Navel?

With Passion in my Heart
by catnapping
03/25/2008, 2:10 PM #

I wrote this:

In the middle of the center
of the circle of his wiggle,
was the button of his belly
and the reason for his giggle.

When the tippit of his tickle
of his finger with a squiggle,
touched his tummy full of jelly,
just enough to make it wiggle.

But the jiggle woke a lintle
from the fuzzy of his nestle.
Peeking out, it shook its woolies,
at the keeper of its vessel.

"Have you no consideration
for the nappers in your nichle?
Cut it out, or do it lestle.
Else I'll make your middle itchle!"


© catnapping

Bad Poetry Contest 2007

[click images for better view]

On the Renovation of Point State Park
by RonB52
08/14/2007, 9:35 PM #

-Pittsburgh, PA

O plump peak'ed Bridges, twins nearly
But that one lies a bit lower,
How supple and splendid you look, uplifted by your new paint job.
Uplifted by your fancy new paint job.
Paint job.

O fair triangular park, whose infield grass
Once grew free, to signal the passing of Spring's innocence,
And Summer's time to play
Denuded now, bare mound,
Scraped clean for your remodeling.
Scraped smooth and clean for your remodeling.

Modeling

O twin tunnels, ever clotted with traffic
In and out, in and out, all day long.
How constantly you spew us out and sometimes
We trail behind us, down your long lanes that spread beneath you this way, and that,
Traces of that moist deliquescence that ever seeps down your slimy walls.
May those lanes ever straddle this majestic Point
Whose fountain even now e'er spews.

Whose fountain even during the renovation e'er spews.

E'er spews.

Locked posts and color coded boards

a fray poem
by daystar
06/20/2007, 9:59 AM #

Locked posts and color coded boards

by daystar


Locked posts and color coded boards

simple hearts and sinister sores

lost in a world

of ongoing wars

it's not the same

as it was before

Peace, be still

now, look around you

is this the fray?

or is this you?

you came here

just to post some more

are you lost?

who's keeping score?

it's high technology

it's a loaded gun

it's fun -n- games

you better run

don't ask for mercy

from a crowd of one

everyone judges you

until they've won

so hang on tight

keep your head

look inside

and get out of bed

you can raise your voice

if you think that's right

you can listen up

or start a fight

so believe in yourself

or a higher you

but come to play

with others who

need your thoughts

to feed upon

while they tear you up

and steal your fun

it's a locked post

no need to reply

no that's not said here

the color is why

learn the culture

and look inside

the fray's around you

are you alive?

days, daysman

allo.

allo.
by Snolly G
06/08/2007, 7:14 AM #

fix the fray has fixed it well,
all the more to make us swell,
better yet, to let us wank,
who we got but slate to thank?
little things may need adjust:
let us post our missives, cussed;
raise the bar on posts uprated;
bit more space to read what's pasted.
overall, it ain't too shabby,
sorta makes me feel like gabbing.

(but)

'fore ya hear me holding forth,
want a topic of some worth.

Long Suffering Sigh

Recurring Nightmare...

Subject: Kevin, if you would? url#m=15104119
From: Tempo-La-Poete
Date: Jul 13 2005 12:36PM

Another poster, without either asking me or telling me, has posted my poem "N" (for Nightmares) on the Poems Fray, when I posted it intentionally on the BOTF yesterday. I believe he thinks he is making some sort of statement by doing so?

The text of my original Top Post (found at url#m=15103306) will explain my thinking, I believe.

I do not feel that such Fray behavior is appropriate and hope you will consider removing Mr. "Ndr's" posting of MY poem.

Actually, I believe such behavior to be far worse than "inappropriate" but that is up to you to decide, of course.

Thank you for your consideration.


(Con)Tempo


Subject: I'm thinking that if
From: EnsleyHill
Date: Jul 14 2005 6:20PM

Kevin replied to your request you wouldn't like what you read. Ender posted your poem, complete with your own editorial comments, and without posting any editorial comments of his own, which would presumably serve your own purposes for posting it. Say thank you and move on.

Secondly, I've lost track of how many posts I've read where you are trying to coerce posters into posting to your posts. That is unseemly and annoying. Can't you see that? It is much more gratifying to have hits from those who wonder over of their own volition.

Posts such as your "N" poem should stand upon their own merits, and not bleed over into side-issues that only detract from the stated purpose.


Subject: You're probably right, which would just prove
From: Tempo-La-Poete
Date: Jul 14 2005 7:00PM

what an execrable excuse for an "Editor" he actually is. An opinion that one sees multiplying daily, like the proverbial rabbit. You've said it yourself, how many times, while chastising him for his infamous unfairness and blatant favoritism. IF anyone else had done that, besides one of KA's notorious favorites, that post of E's would probably have been pulled. And I can guarantee you that Moira AND JDConnor would have yanked it, immediately. GUARANTEE.

What E. did was ethically INexcusable and if it had happened to you, Ensley, I wonder if you would just say "Thank you" and slink away, hat in hand.
Would you? Please answer honestly.

WHY should I thank him? You know, as well as I do, what he thinks of me, and thus, that his motives had to be impure. WERE he a poster who thinks well of me and who hasn't devoted THREE-FOUR YEARS of his Fray-life to slamming me, obviously, I might feel differently as I posted to someone earlier today, on the PFRAY.

As to the latter behavior that seems to bother you so much, why do you CARE? (I see some Fray-behaviors of yours that I'm not wild about, but I don't call them out.)
I know a ton of people around here, I post too much as we all know, and I can't count on them seeing every post I make. People actually THANK ME for such "heads-up," Ensley, believe it or not.

You may not, which is your right & your business, but others do.

With some people around here, I'm just "damned if I do and damned if I don't," and sometimes you are one of those people. No? I could stop that behavior immediately and NEVER repeat it, and it would (still)follow me for years. You KNOW that, E.

By the way, it is a sign of my respect and affection for you that I am taking my time to respond and to give you a serious answer. Please don't dictate to me how to behave, Ensley. I don't like it when men do that to me. Most women don't (like it, that is).
Most women also don't dictate or lecture in that way.

Thank you,

Tempo


Subject: I replied because you said
From: EnsleyHill
Date: Jul 14 2005 7:32PM

you wanted comments about it. I gave you sincere comments about it.


"What E. did was ethically INexcusable and if it had happened to you, Ensley, I wonder if you would just say "Thank you" and slink away, hat in hand.
Would you? Please answer honestly"

--You don't have to wonder about my reactions. Check out the top post in which Ender editorializes a bunch of my past comments and also check out my responses in that thread. The difference being that in your case he reposted something that you yourself are promoting at the present time.

--So what of it, whatever his motives are? If he is posting something you are evidently proud of, what's the problem?

--You resent people lecturing or trying to influence your posting??? Then stop doing it yourself! No one respects the posting liberties of others any more than I do, nor any less than you do! Your attempts to influence, even control, other posters, is legendary.


"With some people around here, I'm just "damned if I do and damned if I don't," and sometimes you are one of those people. No? I could stop that behavior immediately and NEVER repeat it, and it would (still)follow me for years. You KNOW that, E. "

False. I so rarely bring up past postings/posting behaviors, even under provocation, that I doubt if you could find an example. Memories on the Fray, in general, are short-lived, with rare exceptions. Poor posting practices, once ceased, seldom become issues.
The issues I addressed in my post to you are all current.

As to the latter behavior that seems to bother you so much, why do you CARE? (I see some Fray-behaviors of yours that I'm not wild about, but I don't call them out.
I know a ton of people around here, I post too much as we all know, and I can't count on them seeing every post I make. People actually THANK ME for such "heads-up," Ensley, believe it or not.

I'll use one of Ghassan's favorite words here: disingenuous. Your preoccupation with hitcounts, rather than discourse, do your posts a disservice. I'm not talking about a casual heads-up. Does everyone need a heads-up? Can no one read, you figure, even when it's there on the front page?

Feel free to call out any and all of my bad habits.

My point: there is no reason at all why Ender's post should be pulled. You still haven't thanked him for the free publicity.


Subject: "There is no reason at all why..."
From: Tempo-La-Poete
Date: Jul 14 2005 7:46PM

Sorry, have to disagree again. There were TONS of reasons for it to be pulled. Motivation, and lack of courtesy, PRIMARY among them. It is NOT something that is done, frankly.

Btw, the post has been pulled. (See dtat2's post, above, and I just checked it out. It's gone.0

I've already addressed all the points in your response post, I believe, so will say, with respect,

Goodnight Ensley,


T.


Subject: He should not have deleted it.
From: EnsleyHill
Date: Jul 14 2005 8:30PM

Which harks back to some of my earlier comments summarized in the post Ender did about me.

Good night.


Subject: RE: But he did.
From: Tempo-La-Poete
Date: Jul 14 2005 8:33PM

Ah, I think I get it now, your thinking here.

But as so often with your comments, am not totally sure.

Goodnight, Ensley.


T.

Always Changing Sides

unremembered

RE: Those who would be would-be poets

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