An evening's rest was our desire,
we piled some wood, we lit the fire;
and as the flames grew brighter, higher,
the smoke went upward.
The sky was black, the weather cold,
the smoke was more than flue could hold.
Annoyance made our neighbour bold,
for he lives upward.
As smoke invaded his domain,
alas, we understood his pain,
indeed in his place we'd complain,
the smoke went upward.
The master chimney man was called,
he measured pipes and grew appalled:
a half-size chimney was installed
and it ran upward.
We have a hearth, a stack of wood,
we'd light a bonfire, if we could;
but vexing neighbours isn't good,
as sparks fly upward.
Author notes
There is a building code in Ukraine for all sorts of things, but it is rarely heeded.
Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. Job 5:7
In a list
A contest entry
- TRIPLETS ~ painlessly! #133 Allpoetry invited by Lyndon.
3500 points, ended October 31, 2008, 18 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Thank you for reading.
Comments
1 - 26 of 26
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Terrific stuff, the final lines nicely counterpoised to the lovely meter and rhyme of the triplet rhymes, great stuff!
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Thank you Jeff!
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Hi, I am never bored with your poetry, this was a lot of fun, loved it, yes man was born to trouble, all the best Di
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Thank you Di! Today the same man was at our door complaining our satellite dish had fallen from the roof to his balcony. It was another neighbour's antenna, but he blames us for everything. I'm tired of him now, this is HIS trouble.
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Great comic verse and clever rhymes.
Watch out for smoke. It goes upward. Sorry you can't have that nice cosy fire. -
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Thank you Judy, I'm happy you enjoyed the poem.
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Very cleverly ...
shared and executed tale of truth using the triplet form! I could not exist without my jolly fireplace in the winter. I actually can't wait for a chill to breeze around my door so I can go through the ritual of building it and then firing it up! Yes! It does get cold enough in North Florida. I can just imagine how you must feel. A little trick I learned for warmer times is to put a lot of scented candles in the fireplace and light them. It does seem to help when you can't build the big one! The smell is great and you get to enjoy the flickering flame of each one!
j
y
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Thanks Joy, all I needed on this cold wet morning was a rhapsody on the pleasures of a crackling fire!
I have tried little candles, and they have a proportional flame, maybe I bought the wrong kind. Thank you for your kind comment and applause.
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I love the smell of woodsmoke in the winter, and there's nothing quite like standing close enough to warm a chilly backside. It's a great rhyme!
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I love the smell of smoke too; but it is no pleasure without the fire, that is why our neighbour is so annoyed by it.
Thanks for your comment and applause Pat, I'm happy you enjoyed the poem.
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"The best laid plans of mice and men,
gang aft aglay..,"
A story within a story
I see, told in manner
most entertaining, yet filled
with dramatic reality!!!!
Aesthete
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Thanks M-C, I'm happy you enjoyed this poem. These are some of the frustrations of life here; though to be fair, life is improving.
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This just goes to show...
Life IS poetry. From angst to happiness and everything in-between and beyond. Moments tinder of burning passion to grow into hours, days, months, years and lives. "One tear, one smile, one day, one moment at a time."
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Thank you, sweetheart!
Life is full of little stories, like leaves on trees. Thanks for sharing this one with me.
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How wondrous a poem of rant!
But, knowing you, I believe there is a hidden message too: if we want to lit our fires, we should have the measures of accuracy too!
Beautifully executed as always. I shall vote for you for city engineer.
Love
Myra
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Thank you Myra.
Having a fireplace does not confer the right to fill our neighbour's apartment with smoke. After we went to the trouble of obtaining all the necessary tools and fuels, we are disappointed that a fire is inconvenient. The fault is in the construction, who knows what happened there, but point of building is lost when the result is not functional. This is a lesson that the workmen will not get, more's the pity. I had better learn from it, then!
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A fire requires a funnelled flue
Which may be blocked by ancient soot
And do we guess where it leads to
When lighting up to warm each foot?
A roof-top chimney, we assume
Will carry every trace away
Each smoky smut, each nasty fume
Leaving pure heat. We seldom may
Forewarn the neighbours up above
Of our impassioned, fiery love!
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The fireplace is made for the burning of paper and wood, but our yearning for bright yellow flame is dashed, and the blame is for builders who work without learning.
We are left to stoke smokeless fires.
Thanks for your great rhyming comments, Keith.
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Some things are just for show...
...not the glow. Still, the tale is heart warming.
Be ever bright with inner light,
Rahad
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A fireplace may be just for show,
but finding that out is disappointing,
you know?
Thank you Rahad, many blessings to you.
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A delightful poem, a sad circumstance....and the comments are entertaining, too. We have a little wood stove in our living room that has a firebox 13" square. It seems we've had a few bonfires in it, but I remember one time I grabbed what I thought was a normal piece of wood and it turned out to be full of pitch. We had to call the fire department as flames shot out the chimney! My husband made fun of me. "Why didn't you just close the dampers" he said.
It made sense, but the stove was glowing red hot. It was good they were nearby.
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Yipes Karen! That sounds frightening. Thanks for your comment!
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Oh how AWFUL!
so with your surprise half-size flue
what in the world were you to do?
Invite the neighbour and his ire
to share with you a half-size fire?
and if that thought should fall right flat,
why not install natural gas unit that
smokelessly heats, and has a flame!
Mind you we all know it's not the same.
Terry
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yay, great rhyme Terry!
The chimney-meister recommend a half-size fire, no more than three sticks. We have not tried it yet, but perhaps in the fall. Gas is not the same, there is nothing like real wood for that smoky smell.
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Dear Margaret,
I understand your neighbour's gripe
due to your half-size chimney pipe
for, as your dense smoke fills his room
and he is choking in half-gloom,
it's natural he will complain
and hammer on your door again
but when your portal's opened wide
and he observes worse smoke inside,
I think the next step he'd have made
would be to call the fire brigade
whose job it is to rush about
and put odd conflagrations out
so you will learn that smoky wood
can lead to an eventual flood.
~~~
I should respond in triplet rhyme
but, being rather pressed for time,
used quicker couplets, hoping I'm
forgiven for this minor crime.
Applause, love and hugs, XXX Hugh.
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Thank you dear Hugh. Do you want a cubic meter of firewood?
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