Chloe Frayne is known as an Instagram poet and has three published collections of poetry and prose. Her most recent collection, “The Gravity Inside Us,” was published on April 6 and is available on Amazon and in most large bookstores. Frayne describes her inspiration as her travel, relationships, hope and life experience.
Before even opening the book, the cover art struck me. Both the front and back covers portray a spacescape featuring planets and stars, as well as whales, a lantern, a message in a bottle and more. I came to find out that these small things all alluded to themes and poems within. Another thing to jump out was the word gravity in the title, specifically, how it visually differs from the other words on the cover. It has floral details seemingly growing around it, which definitely sparked my interest, and got me excited to start reading.
The book is separated into three chapters, each with its own overarching themes. The first chapter, “A Beckoning,” touches on ideas of love, promise and adventure. I quickly noticed a heavy use of nature forward imagery within the individual poems as well, especially ocean themed word choice. This was a fun connection to the whales in the clouds on the back cover of the book.
The next chapter, “Saltwater Words,” was heavier than the previous. The outlook from the point of view of the poetry had grown sadder. Themes included heartbreak, loss and distance. Overall, this chapter felt like a goodbye, which was a bit strange as a reader because I still had a chapter to go. The nature theme also carried through this chapter, and through to the end of the book.
The book finishes with “A Home For An Ocean.” This chapter felt as though it retouched on the theme of hope, with an outlook different from before. Many of its poems seemed to be about moving on after a difficult period of life. There were also mentions of fate, showing the stories in these poems were meant to be written. I was left with a sad hopefulness for the future of the speaker in the poems.
The poetry was beautiful. Frayne had me there with her, feeling her emotions as I read. Her style of writing was also something of note. Particularly, there were many poems in which she inserted lines, or sometimes whole stanzas, using parentheses. At first I didn’t notice it, but as I continued to read these small brackets stood out to me more and more. It felt as if she had placed these pieces with a question mark. Not unsure of whether to include them, but perhaps unsure of how to. I personally loved this stylistic choice. She also varied the length and flow of her poems. Some had loose rhyme schemes, and many were freeform verses. It kept me on my toes as I worked through.
Overall, this book was definitely worth a read. There are very few poetry collections that I would recommend reading in order, however, this one makes the cut. The order tells a story, and it’s one full of emotion. I’d recommend it to those in a stage in life where they feel growth and change. I honestly couldn’t critique anything about Frayne or her poetry, the book was exceptionally well written.
