A Cleansing Flame: Bachelard Interpreted Book 2

by Frank Prem

when he turned the hourglass

the sand ran up

as he knew it would



deep contemplation

so often turns life

on its head

~

The French philosopher Gaston Bachelard explored the philosophic and poetic values of flame and fire in three books - The Psychoanalysis of Fire, The Flame of a Candle, and the unfinished Fragments of a Poetics of Fire.



In A Cleansing Flame, Frank Prem interprets Bachelard's explorations of the poetic element fire, decanting the vivid imagery contained within the philosopher's work into new and accessible free verse poetic storytelling forms, bringing each story to life.



~



time stops



I beat my wings



my temperature

just half a flame

from fire

170 pages, Paperback

Published November 25, 2024

About the author

Frank Prem has been a storytelling poet for forty years. When not writing or reading his poetry to an audience, he fills his time by working as a psychiatric nurse.

He has been published in magazines, zines and anthologies, in Australia and in a number of other countries, and has both performed and recorded his work as ‘spoken word’.

He lives with his wife, in the beautiful township of Beechworth in northeast Victoria (Australia).

Franks web page is located at: www.FrankPrem.com.

YouTube video of Frank reading 'callignee butterflies', from Devil In The Wind.

Reviews

[Bobbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of poetry focusing on the elements of life. I found the descriptions in this book caused me to see what was being said and feel the words in the poems. One of the most relatable works of art Ive read in a long time

[Kanwarpal Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poetry book collection "A Cleansing Flame" by Frank Prem interprets Gaston Bachelard's explorations of the natural element of fire, decanting the vivid imagery and metaphorical use of fire in poetry contained within the philosopher's work into new and accessible free verse poetic storytelling forms, bringing each story to life.

Divided in 3 parts as Bachelard's books came first they talk about life comparison with the fire element and how it is related, the psycho analysis told us how fire is an essential part of human life as this element governs other elements and how it is consciously connected with us.

Fragments from A Poetics of Fire talks each of these elements and dimensions with human emotions and physical attributes of analogy between them.