Beauty-Blessing Of A Big Wood-pile

Sometimes, as I start the fire in the mornings I think of stories I read about the pioneers scavenging the prairies for buffalo chips to keep the fire going, when they had no wood or dry wood!
Not only a fire hot enough to keep their home warm but hot enough to cook on!
It makes me so thankful for the old wood pile.
I wrote this poem for my friend's parents who moved into a retirement home without a wood-stove this fall, so they gifted to us some of their wood.
When I asked my friend what they would like for a bit of a thank-you she suggested a poem about a wood-pile, recalling how glad her dad always was for theirs!

Oh humble unsung hero; both of now and days long dead

It fills far more than corners in the cellar or the shed

For it is the begetter of winter-weather reprieve

Where we gather together to enjoy a cozy eve

With *‘Schizzel’ full of popcorn and a *schoze so full of book

Or maybe we are playing games like Lost Heir, Uno, Rook

And all the riches in the world could never make us smile

Like humble, good times we enjoy, thanks to the old wood pile

Now dad can put his sock feet up; set anxious thoughts to rest

Knowing that though the storm may rage, feathered will be his nest

And all his little fledglings need not dread the days to come

But live the best life has to give in simple joys of home

For wealth is not the number of its dollars we accrue

But rather gold-framed echoes of love’s happy me and you

Where the treasure of memories is worth each homespun while

And made ever the sweeter by the grin of a wood pile

The flicker of flame-dancers is a fine thing to behold

They leap and crackle where the warmth of it never grows old

And everyone is gladder while the wild of winter wails

With woodstove full of fire to grant comfort from its gales

So lest we overlook its quiet nook and modest pose

And lest we reserve poetry for romance of love’s rose

Let’s take a moment to applaud the gift of wooded isle

And thank God for the beauty-blessing of a big wood pile

© Janet Martin

* Schizzel- Pennsylvania Dutch Word for bowl

*schoze- Pennsylvania Dutch Word for lap