Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BUILDIN' FIRES, by BURGES JOHNSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BUILDIN' FIRES, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: To build a fire is better fun
Last Line: Do all the pokin' there's to do.
Subject(s): Boys; Fire


To build a fire is better fun
Than almost anythin' I know.
There's certain ways it should be done,
Or else it's likely not to go.
My father says that he admires
A boy that's good at buildin' fires.

An' in the diff'runt ones I've tried,
There's lots of little thin's I've learnt,
Like lightin' from the windward side,
An' how to bank 'er when she's burnt.
An' how to make the smudges thick,
An' when to poke 'er with a stick.

On Saturdays we love to go
And do like tramps or Indians do,
An' cook an ear of corn or so,
With frogs' legs, or some fishes too.
(The nicest food that's ever cooked
Is veg'tubles that you have hooked.)

A fire at home is not the same;
You have to get a chair an' sit
And watch a kind of gentle flame
With no excitement over it.
An' grown-up folks, instead of you,
Do all the pokin' there's to do.





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