Somewhere Something is Burning

Alice Frecknall

• Publisher: Out Spoken Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781838021191
• eBook ISBN: 9781838427238
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Poetry
• Index: Literature

An examination of solitude and absence, the poems within this collection grapple with the reality and taboo of loneliness pitted against an anxiety of connecting. Exploring human relationships, breakdown in communication, and silence – self-inflicted or otherwise – the poems give voice to the fears and experiences that shape us, and interrogate the ways in which we process and avoid. Frecknall's leaps of surreality, extreme empathy and vivid imagery make Somewhere Something is Burning a compelling joyride of a read.

See Figure 1.

after Ocean Vuong

After our diagnosis, this is over, I held

a ritual and ate the watch of my wrist.

Note to self:

leather is nothing like beef jerky.

Summer is threatening to come again.

My grandparents planted an oak tree

in their garden the summer they

were first married.

I sit out afternoons in the living room,

silences stacking up the chimney, fire raging

despite the season.

Smoke thickens, brings short-sightedness.

7.02am: my cough is back.

Ill or tired?

I woke to find it on my pillow smirking

through the dark, just waiting.

There is a tapping. I think it is coming from

outside, not from within me.

No matter.

Note to self: second-hand smoke

contains 7,000 chemicals. Plus.

On average, you’ll lose 10 years to

perfectly rolled cigs.

Are my insides a fog yet?

There is no violence in death. Not naturally.

Only a quiet tussle into nothing.

8.37am: woodpecker or DIY?

My grandmother said, I only dated him

for his car, you know.

A Morris Garages classic. A catch.

Memory is a deadweight. It does not sleep.

It lies on your side of the bed and counts

down to another day like any other,

heated porridge oats and milk.

In the winter of 2009 you left the espresso

maker on the stove, unwatched.

I could smell the fumes in your nostrils

for weeks each time we spoke too close.

10.21am: my stomach is roaring.

I watched two scientists on the news cut

open a dead seabird to reveal

its stomach a mesh.

Over 200 bits of discarded plastic.

Nature cannot be trusted with itself.

Last night I dreamt your lover sliced me

open, removed my stomach and placed it

in a locked box made from oak,

threw away the key, not yet ready to know

all the things I have consumed.

My grandmother said, your grandfather

sold his car to pay for the wedding.

But by then, there was nothing either

could have done.

The Adult Authentication Centre

Try this one for size,

just below the nose.

Stretch the corners up a touch,

not to the point of frenzied but

enough to have something convincingly

cheerful for your photo pass.

How do you feel about orange?

Second thoughts, best not.

Something bright though. Lime green?

Pink?

Fuchsia!

No? A backdrop then.

The Happy Family series is quite popular

with your age bracket.

I’m afraid not. The small print’s there,

see? Not included.

Next to the clause about

pet allergies. Never mind…

High-Flying Couple?

Oh! Here,

the Strong Independent range. You’re lucky,

we’ve quite a number of these left in stock.

I’ll just need copies of your

mortgage agreement, full-time salary,

pension plan, and net worth

of any investments.

What’s that?

Right.

Yes, I do understand.

Actually,

could I ask you

to step aside?

There’s an exit ahead of you there,

between the Fairy-Tale Bundles and

the Blissful Retirements.

Don’t worry, it’s not that you’ve

done anything wrong. I mean,

it doesn’t make a difference to me

but it’s a matter of sensitivity.

Don’t want to make the others feel

uncomfortable, do we? Ba...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Crustacean
• Broken GPS
• Paper
• Best Kept Village
• Blue
• Attachment Theory
• Moving Day
• Fruit Picking
• Real Estate
• Holiday
• Heat
• I go to sleep on my side of the bed.
• Last Winter I Ate You Whole
• Love Letter
• Tulips
• Mother Married a Rock
• Weekend Getaway
• I Ask the Flowers
• See Figure 1.
• The Adult Authentication Centre
• Please Note: single diners may have to share a table at busy times
• Cyanosis
• She is lying
• Take These, They’re Falling!
• Magic Trick
• Easter Sunday
• Plateau
• Preface
• Writing to You
• Welcome to Departures
• Stockpiling
• The Vault
• The Signs
• Acknowledgements
• Thanks
• Other titles by Out-Spoken Press