The Little Woodstove
by Holly Tucker
The little woodstove, my winter witness, sits still.
Silently awaits, the ritual.
I lift the lid, whisk the cinders, bow to ashes' grace.
Gray ghosts, silver spirits,
Billow upward in my face.
The little woodstove, with brittle windows winking.
What mischief it is thinking.
This is its folly, its whim, its chilling satire.
I know I'm no match for it,
And the riddle of silly old fire.
The little woodstove, truly gives me fits.
I am losing, this battle of wits.
Which of us will be left standing, or standing in the cold.
It's a bitter wind my friend,
If your warmth you withhold.
The little woodstove, tries to look the other way.
Sighs a whisper of dismay.
I fill it with tinder, with wishes, with thin hope in flint.
Then blow it a kiss and listen—
For it to give me a hint.
The little woodstove, my merry minstrel.
Winter is nigh, time will tell.
Now you chirp, you flit, you glow like a rosy linnet.
Dusty, lilting firebox,
Quivering like a tingling spinet.
About the author:
40-something, lifelong closet poet.
Now Available:
A Christmas Blizzard
GK's New Holiday Story
A comic novella about a Hawaii-bound holiday traveler who ends up stranded in his North Dakota hometown.
Audio edition also available»
The Prairie Home cruise has become legendary on two of the Seven Seas and now is setting sail on a third, a weeklong spring break cruise of the western Caribbean along the Mexican coast, and it leaves March 14 from Tampa.
Stories of a Wobegon romance far from home, all delivered with Garrison Keillor's trademark humor.
Read the first chapter»Signed Copies Available»
The latest collection of Lake Wobegon short stories gathered from live broadcasts include Confirmation Sunday, the church directory photos, Pastor Ingqvist's leather bound sermons along with song lyrics and the "95 Theses," among others. Companion audio also available.
Order now!»