Tags
Baba Yaga, babuschka, briquettes, Chekov, coal man, Vulcan, woodburner
An old post which seemed to bypass most of my present followers:
It’s dark now that the clocks are about to be changed and in the evening
all one can think about is activating the wood burner and settling in with
the hope that something interesting will be on the television. I go out
scavenging for wood- from skips, with permission, -or just appropriating
blown down twigs and slender branches. After a walk I look like a
babuschka trundling home in a Chekhov landscape, or Babuschka Baba
Yaga, to be more precise.
When I was little I was unfamiliar with the concept of a wood burner, but
very au fait with the actuality of a coal fire. Here is a poem that I wrote
about:
The Coal Man
Once a week the coal man called with his sack
of bulging hessian, a shouldered sheep
wrapped round his sooty neck, his black back
bent double. He left a glistening heap
in bunkers, bawled on like a hoarse banshee.
Peeping from behind the curtain, my eye
would meet his own and in childish fancy,
its balefulness predestined that I’d die,
cursed by the red-lipped golliwog’s* fixed stare.
His load was the object of poker, tongs,
its coke-corrupted, crackling dross the flare
of a chimney fire; feeling which belongs
with hearth mythology, childhood’s subtle
fears of elemental forces. The guard
was prohibition’s symbol; the scuttle
source of adult power to ignite flames barred
to the uninitiated. Daybreak
began with vestal rituals, the sweeping
of ash, its careful wrapping. I would wake
to a smoky haze, the first blue leaping
through yesterday’s newspapers. A stray spark
had to be stamped before it took its hold:
individuality’s searing mark,
product of the dark trolls, Vulcanesque gold.
God took His own delivery; the sky
rumbled as His cellar filled with tinder
and this child, captivated by a lie,
trembled. The Coal Man might note smut, cinder
in grimy heart of smallest sinner-a
companion set no talisman or charm
against His briquettes’ out-poured brouhaha,
or sudden brilliancy which caused alarm.
The Grimy Giant’s voice was the thunderclap
Which sent one to the haven of a lap.
* no longer PC, but in the Fifties many a child had
a golliwog, so this toy, held in affection, was of its time
and that was its name, whether one approves of it, or not
in present times.
( PS Beware of burning wood unless it is super-dry oak
which has been seasoned for two years and has been
properly stored. I was exposed to bituminous, evil-smelling
smoke from others’ chimneys and my lung function in
my lower airways deteriorated to 56% and steroids did not
really help. Had to move house in the end. Wood smoke
particulate is highly toxic.)
Excellent!
Thank you.
Sorry to hear about your lung condition. Where I live in Maritime Canada many people in rural areas still burn wood for heat, in furnaces or efficient stoves. Including us. Alas, most of our oak was harvested for ship’s masts for England in the 19th Century; we make do with maple and birch. I do remember that my urban grandparents still heated with coal in the 1950’s. Loved the poem.
Efficient woodburners bring the combustion temp up to 900 degrees, apparently. It is the smouldering, damp wood burning in an enclosed
physical environment that is the killer for asthmatics etc
This brings back so many memories. We have a woodburner – our first. Not popular in HK. Its brilliant and so efficient but if the wood is not properly dried it spits and shrieks and smokes. It’s all sealed in but not what you want when you need to open up the burner to sort it out. Winter drawers on.
Wonderful words and the photos to match ~ the memories of the past are so strong and love the ending “The Grimy Giant’s voice was the thunderclap, Which sent one to the haven of a lap.” Wood burning stoves are very popular in my hometown, mainly using wood pellets and when there is no wind, the smoke just lingers. I hope your lung issues are not too severe. Wish you a great autumn ahead, Candia.
Thank you!
Have moved to a house set in a more open space- so far, so good!
While moving is always a bit of a drag, the new environment after settling in is always a bit exciting. 🙂