A Cleansing Flame

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