Vaporous Concepts And Volatile Constructions

By Stephen Alexander North

is this me

this voice

these words

that lead somewhere

to a place

where everything makes sense

where peace exists

where we find god

in the world

all around us

and that question

of what does it all mean

loses significance

when we let go

and just live

when we rise and retreat

with the moon and the tide

and we fly unfettered

leave grief behind

I'm there now

my friends

with just enough of me

still tethered to the earth

to share these thoughts

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen Alexander North
• Release date: Mar 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224799145

Stephen Alexander North

Stephen A North is the author of the Dead Tide Series, The Drifter Series of books, and a number of short stories.  He is a Florida native, has a BA in English Literature from USF, and is a former Army Reservist.

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Vaporous Concepts And Volatile Constructions

Stephen Alexander North

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Stephen Alexander North

Cover art by Ophelia Kee

Copyright © 2024 by Stephen Alexander North

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

For Kerri

I dress up my thoughts

I adorn them

With you

(The sixth day of December, 2023)

Book Description

is this me

this voice

these words

that lead somewhere

to a place

where everything makes sense

where peace exists

where we find god

in the world

all around us

and that question

of what does it all mean

loses significance

when we let go

and just live

when we rise and retreat

with the moon and the tide

and we fly unfettered

leave grief behind

I’m there now

my friends

with just enough of me

still tethered to the earth

to share these thoughts

Contents

Beyond Apocalypse

Inspiration

1.Fascination

2.I get by on what I still see

3.When words aren’t enough

4.Capriciously, like life

5.A beautiful conversation

6.Somewhere, just after

7.Then, I went onward

8.What the lost believe

9.The loss of what

10.I’m a tease, I know

11.After dark

12.To the jaded

13.The poet I don’t really know

14.At Kerri’s behest

15.A veneer of identity

16.This tale of the leaf

17.From the wonderful, happy world of fungus and mold

18.Exploring a dim tangle

19.(in memory of) Kaye

20.(in memory of) Red

21.For love, I will

22.Impactful return

23.Where we go

24.You live on

25.Vaporous concepts and volatile constructions

26.Somewhere high up and far away

27.Is there thunder and lightning?

28.This filth

29.I will think by the river

30.The insignificance of meaning

31.El perro pequeño

32.The point of her words

33.Aubade

34.Nocturne

35.Saudade

36.Nadie está escuchando

37.Before the thunder and rain

38.With interest

39.Why me?

40.We recede with the tide

41.My friend, my friend

42.La fin de la journée

43.I don’t know what this is

44.Lost machinations

45.Unavoidable regret

46.I look at the world

47.What we do at night

48.Intemperate climes

49.Marcescence

50.Engraved

51.At the end of the rope

52.Omnipresent

53.Mostly deadly

54.Words

55.For love

56.My other life

57.Dark travels

58.What the mind constructs

59.Random, like the wind

60.Wherever words take me

61.The many voices of my mind

62.Vast sums undefined

63.Evening in December

64.Behavioral peculiarity

65.In the midst of a blue

66.Taco innuendo

67.Out there

68.Dice of life

69.Not so little fool

70.Forever lost

71.Transit to Scorpio

72.Questionable whether

73.Don’t wait for me

74.Transit Complete

75.Dust shroud

76.I beg your pardon, while indulging my doubt

77.Mordant weathering

78.Ricochets

79.Unloved and muddy

80.Misplaced Youth

81.Beyond the whispering fronds

82.At the end of a long night

83.Where did I go?

84.She’s gone, but still here

85.Call disconnected, no dial tone

86.Maybe this is why

87.For love of what was

88.Overthinking about you

89.Without one there may be no other

90.The Reliquary

91.Unintentionally creepy

92.Unlost love

93.The river won’t wait

94.May you live too

95.Edge Dreamer

96.Respect for the individual

97.Shades, opinions and grays

98.A ghost in my mind

99.To those lost to me

100.Foolish heart

101.For Love

102.Spiritual World

103.Blithe Lunar Disregard

104.There’s a hole in the hourglass

105.Words I do, and do not want to write

106.Gloomy on the inside

107.Too many twos

108.My lies, your tears

109.Cognition

110.The vanity of meaning

111.Heavenly Vistas For The Mind

112.I miss the rain and the thunder

113.The games we play below Olympus

114.After thoughts

115.They plunder the earth

116.Dark Romance

117.Every movement reveals us

118.Uninhibited

119.Glorious Uncertainty

120.In my evening

121.I crawled

122.Where do you live?

123.Dirt Roads

124.Prey

125.Placed

126.Questions we don't ask

127.Haikus written for fun spanning several days in February:

128.Dirigible Retrospective

129.What those who love see

130.Firm denial

131.Late night Boogie with Steve

132.A short life, long passed

133.Still life, upon reflection

134.What’s real

135.Overwhelming testimony

136.The work of her mind

137.Seasonal fauna

138.What I found way out there

139.What we endure

140.Thoughts from the edge

141.Calloused regard

142.Echoes of my voice

143.The vernacular of experience

144.The crowd

145.The poet I don’t really know

146.Lonely is a man

147.Mood ring

148.Like denim and leather

149.A remembrance of what was

150.Disconnected

Beyond Apocalypse Newsletter

Also By Stephen Alexander North - Beyond Apocalypse

Acknowledgements

About the Author - Stephen Alexander North

Beyond Apocalypse

If you enjoy apocalyptic horror, thrillers, and science fiction tales, you will love Stephen Alexander North’s prose fiction.

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Inspiration

To Be Human' versus 'To Be Humane.' One embraces everything, and the other tries to make up for it.

(from January 31st, 2022)

Fascination

she was a flower dancing

beneath the sun

swaying in the wind

and I, an aged tree

rooted in stony ground

both of us

beneath the same sky

she was a sight to see

and her smile

made me want to live

a while longer

and her laughter

made my heart beat faster

for a spell

(completed on a Monday, the thirteenth day of November, 2023)

I get by on what I still see

why is there this need

why does my heart cry

they’re just words

in a song

I like to sing

that are so close

to how it feels

to fade away

to lean back

close my eyes

listen to someone else

say the words

that feeling right at

the edge

at the end of a day

at the beginning of a night

a twilight mood

there’s not enough light

as the dark closes in

the lonely sound inside

that echoes with the weight of years

nothing is as it was

but there’s a memory

of you and me

and I turn up that music

to drown out any thought

that there’s a road back

because

that’s where madness floats

darling

it’s good enough

to remember

once in a while

(completed on a Moon day, on the thirteenth day of November, 2023)

When words aren’t enough

what a surprise

to still be here

to see that look

on your face

to see you step closer

to me

as I lay there

and your finger

still lingers on the trigger

your eyes wide

in disbelief

are you waiting for me

to move

to blink

to speak

or do you think

I might need another bullet

don’t worry, darling

you put a stop

to anything more

I might say

now or forever

one more

might make you feel better

but I’m not sticking around

for another round

(completed on the day after Sunday, on the thirteenth of November, 2023)

Capriciously, like life

occasionally, like the rain

randomly, like the wind

unpredictably, like a memory

fitfully, like sleep

sometimes, I remember

and I can feel

my face fracture

hot tears of grief flow

down my cheeks

it’s okay, really

more the tragedy

if I didn’t think of you

ever

and I couldn’t bear that

some pain is just

when loss is