Original DDE™ art: “Bringing It Out” by: rob kistner © 12/24/25
—-<§>—-
hand-picked
hard-gotten treasures—
this is most definitely personal
pristine one-eighth split birch
felled but just yesterday
in this high mountain stand
once dried and cured
they will burn
with the crackle
of nature’s pure energy—
and the heady aroma
of deep wilderness freedom
upon returning to our cabin
the axe and wedge splitting
of this pole-straight beauty
will be an intoxicating release
stacking it cord after cord
in neatly organized piles
between our back porch
and our hand-hewn cedar shed—
both now sadly mine alone…
this has become for me—
commemoration
a blessed preparation
of our near-holy ritual—
one you so loved…
stoking the fires
this is how this ceremony begins
feeling the fibers of the birch trunk
freely and readily acquiesce
opening to the insistence
of the honed steel edge
hammering down unrelenting
from the end of its 36” long
smooth— sure-grip handle
hearing the virgin wood
crack — tear… and splinter
under my well-placed impact
is as music to my ears—
and a balm for my sorrow
sadly — there are those
who pervert the sacrament
with internal combustion
and chained metal teeth—
but that is simply sacrilegious
the art and ceremony
of creating perfect firewood
by the craft of the hand
lifts my heart—
centers my soul
it is second only
to the precise and perfect
burning of the birch—
swooning to its divine aroma
…remembering
it is in the fire
in the flames
of this sacrament
that I burn—
…I burn for you!
rob kistner © 12/24/25