the fire burns
for a minute then fades —
needs rekindling
NOTES
I originally posted this in Fálki’s Mighty Network with the first line “the fire burns hot”, but … does a fire burn any other way? “Hot” is a wasted word there.
You may argue that fires smolder. I agree. But when someone says that a fire “burns”, I assume a flame, and a flame is hot. If a fire is smoldering, then I say it’s smoldering.
The poem was inspired by a fire last night, one of the last here before we depart, that I initially started in order to burn some private pages. But then, enjoying the warmth, I tried to keep it going … and almost failed.
I didn’t know much about fires, outside the fact that I like them, prior to living in northern Maine this past winter. I learned a lot, including the difference between tinder and kindling.
Paper is tinder. It burns fast. Kindling is thicker stuff that burns more slowly, slowly enough to ignite a larger piece of wood. Then, maybe, once a couple larger pieces are burning, I can finally add a big piece to the now raging fire.
Learning about building and maintaining fires in a small wood stove this winter was fun and exciting, because I did it mostly by trial and error, finding different ways to approach each of about 100 fires.
I do love fire.