Exhalations from the Grave

By Clyde B Northrup

The poems in this collection, for the most part, result from nightmares that continue to plague me, for I am a coward at heart. I still fear the dark, hear noises in the night, run from shadows, or simply hide under the covers, hoping that someone will save me, or that the light will return and dispel the creatures lurking in my night. This collection is best read with the lights on bright, unless one is of sterner stuff than the author. Many of the poems commemorate one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, a celebration of all the things that scare us; other poems recognize the wonder of nature and its incredible creatures, and how pleasant it is to sit and contemplate them, while others emanate from observation of people and events. At the center of this collection is a series of Science Fiction poems, telling the tragic tale of Simly & Lorella, set at some time in the future, an old story in a new light. This particular tale was inspired by my daily walks around our suburban neighborhood, reading ‘the writing on the wall,’ so to speak.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clyde B Northrup
• Release date: Oct 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301661749

Clyde B Northrup

Who am I?–a question I often ask myself, without ever coming up with a satisfactory answer: am I just a husband, father, professor, scholar, writer, poet, or some combination that changes from moment to moment, depending on the day, and time of day. . . . Nah, not really–but it is an intriguing way to begin–kind of mysterious and tormented, with a hint of instability that promotes empathy in the reader, and lets all of you know that I am a professor of English, down to my bones, and I cannot help but play around with language. My areas of specialty are 19th-20th century British Literature, the novel, Tolkien & fantasy; my dissertation was on Tolkien’s 1939 lecture “On Fairy-stories” in which he created a framework, as I discovered, for the epic fantasy that I used to critique several modern/contemporary works of fantasy, including Tolkien’s. I have taught at the university level for 14 years. My wife, of 30+ years, is an elementary school teacher.As a poet, I am much like Wordsworth, while as a novelist, I am more like his pal Coleridge, both of which illustrate the influence of my education and areas of expertise. My poems are predominantly narrative in nature, reflecting, no doubt, the overwhelming impulse to tell a story, using the compact, compressed form of the poem to narrate significant moments in the daily life of the poet. As a novelist, my biggest influence is Tolkien, flowing out of my study of his ideas for what he called a “fairy-story” for adults, what we term epic fantasy.

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Exhalations from the Grave

including

The Tragedy of Simly & Lorella

By Clyde B. Northrup

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 Clyde B. Northrup.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To all those who, like me, are still afraid of the dark and things that go bump in the night. . . .

Table of Contents:

Author’s Preface

Exhalations from the Grave

My Desert Backyard

Green

The Worst Monster

Not a Normal Family

Ghosts & Gremlins

My Enemy

Fatherhood

The Mad Professor

Lofty Sentinel

It’s Just a Box

The Tragedy of Simly & Lorella:

Simly & Lorella: Prologue

Nightly Patrol

Rebellion

Caught!

Battle Lost

Heights

Leave of Absence

Broken Moment

Wind-up Automaton

Depths

Reinstated

Final Confrontation

Blood-stained Hands

Simly & Lorella: Epilogue

Professor at Large

The Hummingbird

Monday Lament

Cascading Water

Real Man

Birdsong

That Old Guy

Tunnel Vision

Turning Point–1776

Satellites

Face to Face

Weeping on the Shore

About the Author

Author’s Preface

The poems that follow, for the most part, result from nightmares that continue to plague me, for I am a coward at heart.  I still fear the dark, hear noises in the night, run from shadows, or simply hide under the covers, hoping that someone will save me, or that the light will return and dispel the creatures lurking in my night.  This collection is best read with the lights on bright, unless one is of sterner stuff than the author.  Many of the poems commemorate one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, a celebration of all the things that scare us; other poems recognize the wonder of nature and its incredible creatures, and how pleasant it is to sit and contemplate them, while others emanate from observation of people