A Cold Winter Night Poem by joe wprtham

Outside. All is quiet
On this December night
With full moon shining
And the wind is still.

With the setting sun
The long cold descent has begun
Animals have long since found
A place harboring earth's warmth.

But inside the barn's apartment
The cast iron stove's heat is found
Filled with yesterday's oak
Dry and well seasoned.

All that remained was to encourage
The fire to begin its virgil
Chasing away the cold
But how to renew the blaze?

The carefully placed pieces of oak
Are arranged over a tiny bit of tinder
A piece of pine sap-wood long ago
Preserved to ensure the resins remain.

And in the front nestled amongst the wood
Is a paper soaked with yesterday's grease
Bacon remains that have been saved for this
The end and the beginning.

Now a match is struck and to the paper placed
Quickly the grease begins the final chapter
Blazing into life
Adding heat and igniting the "lightner".

The room is filled with the pleasant heat
But there is another benefit
The usual smell of burning oak
Joined with the aroma of bacon frying.

Inhale and enjoy while nestled deep in your quilts.
Tomorrow will soon be here.