Devil in the Wind

I don’t think I have ever picked up a poetry collection before, outside of what I was mandated to read in school. That is why when Frank contacted me to review Devil in the Wind, I was fascinated. I spent a good chunk of my teenage years and early-twenties writing poems, but having never experienced published poetry before, this was a great opportunity to reconnect with it. I’ll be using some of Frank’s own verses to help me out here with my thoughts. 🙂

Devil in the Wind is an account of catastrophic fire and its immediate aftermath. 

In this 21st century, the whole world seems to be on fire. America burns. Europe burns. Greece is reeling after its own tragedy of fire. 

And Australia burns, as it has always done, but now so much more fiercely. 

In February 2009, wildfires burnt through entire communities, taking 173 lives and injuring hundreds, while destroying thousands of houses and other buildings. Up to 400 fires destroyed 450,000 hectares of forest, native fauna and habitat, livestock and farmland. 

In the aftermath of the fires, the voices of people who had lived through the experience — victims, rescuers, and observers — were spoken and were heard. 

Devil in the Wind is Frank Prem’s poetic anthology of the personal, and very human, accounts of those who themselves experienced and survived Black Saturday. Poetry writing that interacts directly with readers emotions. 

a love affair
to the death

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The Short Take – From Goodreads

A couple years ago, there was a huge fire in Fort McMurray, Canada. I heard about it on the news but that was about it. Frank’s poetry in Devil in the Wind reminded me of that fire and connected me with the hardships and anguish that people go through in times of such catastrophes.

Poetry has a way of expressing large sentiments in minimal words and Frank does an amazing job of showing perspectives of numerous people who were affected.

He also made me think about some bigger questions like what can one really do during a fire? What is it like to come back to a home that does not exist? And many more that he answered through his poems.

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The Long Take – Theme for Thought

Wildfires as a Reality of Life

I grew up in India, with a hot sun above my head. There were always instances of draught due to the lack of rain in some parts, but wildfires weren’t things that I knew about. When I moved to Canada, that is where I learned about these, sometimes man-made, disasters. Like every other event on the news, I followed it but it did not affect me. After reading Frank’s Devil in the Wind I will never be able to say I have not experienced wildfires.

National Geographic provides a good overview of wildfires, their kinds, and what to do during the situation. Check out the video below to gain some scientific insight about the phenomenon.

a refuge
for these stories
forged in hell

Devil in the Wind brings together the accounts of people affected by the Black Saturday fires in Australia. Some of these people were there in Maryville when the catastrophe took place, others were not in the city, some were responders to the fires, while others were action-takers as the calamity became more intense.

through the alien country
I thought I knew
like the back of my hand

Looking back, now their home does not exist like it used to. There are so many things that have changed. But apart from that, the people have changed too. The struggle of leaving the house, deciding what to do with their dearest pets, reaching out to people who were not there at that time, working with neighbours to get out, all these experiences have united the inhabitants of the city in the time of dire need, when help was far from home.

strangers to us
and yet
so close

I distinctly remember the verses about the person on fire-watch, trying to contact the fire department. That was revealing about the systems that we pride ourselves of having but that don’t work during calamity. The fire plan of deciding to leave or stay is another example, and I honestly had no idea about it.

there was nothing
to give us advice
better than our eyes

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This is a beautiful collection of rhyme, bringing the reader closer to the disaster that happened in Australia, and at the same time, anywhere where fires cause havoc and destruction. I really enjoyed reading it and am thankful to Frank for reaching out to me, thinking I would like this book. He was absolutely right!

What’s more is that Frank has a very unique way of writing. This verses, if you noticed above, lack punctuation. As I was reading, I felt that I had the freedom to come up with my own images (through pauses) and savour the sentiment of the poetry, rather than the punctuation dictating it.

If you are looking for a quick read (it took me less than an hour to read this book), and want to be transported to a new world, give this collection of poems a try. It’s worth it! I bet you will gain some new perspectives as well.

** Devil in the Wind is now available so get a copy and let me know what you think! Let’s have a poetry-discussion! **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle (available on Kindle Unlimited)

Stay tuned for Frank’s interview in the next post! 🙂 We’ll be talking about Devil in the Wind and his writing style+inspiration.

Frank Prem, the poet behind Devil in the Wind

Cover image: Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash