Camp Fire

When the heat of summer passes, when the leaves wax red and gold,When abating daylight hours turn the night air crisp and cold,This is just the time for camping for a tough and hardy few,Those who pack their kit and campers, (and their friends and family too.)Camping it a time of testing, when young boys learn manly waysFrom their wise and knowing fathers, reminiscing childhood days.One such group of hardy campers tarry in a leafy glade,Lofty forest all about them, nestled in the dappled shade.Just a brace of families camping in that calm and peaceful spot,(Soon that calm would be disrupted, and the peace disturbed somewhat.)Knowing fathers go exploring, while their women set up camp,Leaving children running feral through the forest, cool and damp.After quite a time at toiling, ladies put the kettle on,Then they sit and sip and wonder where the hell their men have gone.Meanwhile, in the dark'ning forest, wise and knowing fathers findOne enormous pile of refuse that the ranger left behind.Thinking that they'd do a favour for the ranger, still unseen,Fathers' head back to the campsite for a tank of gasoline.When, at last, the knowing fathers find their way back to their site,Ladies ask them where they're off to, and will they be back tonight?Fathers promise they will only be away a moment more,They must go back to the forest to complete a vital chore.Ladies once more boil the billy; call the children in for tea,While their wise and knowing husbands creep away with impish glee.In the course of modern living, what they plot would not arise,But in verdant leafy forests, they see things through boyhood's eyes.With the petrol can in one hand, and their wayward thoughts in mind,Knowing fathers find the refuse that the ranger left behind.So they drown the pyre in petrol, not sure if they've used enough,Then they throw a lit match in it and they wait there for the "puff".But the refuse pile exploded, rattling the forest floor.Then, immediately after, came a deep and deaf'ning roar.Knowing fathers scurry camp-ward, as the flames light up the night,While their children scramble from their tents in obvious delight.Hardy campers stand together as they watch the fire blaze,Till the silhouette of fire trucks scream up through the smoky haze.Soon the wise and knowing fathers get to know the ranger well,When he gives the ultimatum; never in his forest dwell!Now when summer heat is over, when the leaves are changing hue,Nothing more our campers light, except the backyard barbecue.