So cold was I

That I reached for the cedar

To give warmth to my eyes

A rumbled appeared

on the inside of me

And I thought to myself

Stake and eggs there shall be!

So I grabbed down some alder

And burned up the wood

My steak did I cook

Up under the hood

Of my old pick-up truck

The engine not there

I had put in a stove

People started to stare

So I figured to myself

Lets make a hot drink

And invite those on-lookers

For coffee and meat

So I grabbed me some pine

And those drinks I did heat

Hot java with sugar

which tastes like a treat

Well right about now

It was just around lunch

And the people who gathered

Were oh quite a bunch

And I thought to myself

How now about nigh

I wish I had made

Enough fresh apple pie

But no pie was there

So I continued to think

And thought of potatoes

Here by the street

So I grabbed me some elm

Bone dry to be sure

And I wrapped spuds in foil

The hot coals to endure

And I passed out the plates

To the onlookers just so

And knife of type Swiss

Near a camouflage pole

And the spuds were all eaten

With haste and delight

When I started to realize

It was just about night

Here in the wilderness

Alaska by name

Where the bears all wear coats

And the deer they complain

Of the cold winter evenings

The chill on the air

And I thought to myself

Lets get oak for the bears

So I grabbed me some oak

Which I’d cut with my saw

And warm we did keep

Until the spring thaw

So if you were wondering

Just what wood to use

Remember this poem

And feel a little amused

Cedar in the morning

for when it is cold

Pine for the coffee,

that tastes like pure gold

Alder for the steak,

 a savory feast

With some elm for the spuds,

Bone dry to say the least

And last comes the hardwood

Black oak by name

For the freezing winter nights

So the locals won’t complain

And your on-lookers will delight

With the flash of the sparks

And they’ll stay on through morning

And the dogs they will bark

For the joy that is produced

By fresh burning wood

Because what to burn when

Is now clearly understood