The Wordsmith's Forge

This is the freebie for today's fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from kellan_the_tabby. It also fills the "autumn" square in my 12-3-17 card for the genprompt_bingo fest.


"Make Logs, Carry Water"


When you have a hearth
but no firewood, use your head.

You can buy fire bricks of
sawdust or compressed paper,
or better yet, make your own.

Roll wet newspaper into logs,
pulp or crumple it, and then
press the result into bricks
and wait for them to dry.

Mix wax with sawdust
or even coffee grounds
to make fire blocks.

Enlightenment is seeing that
you don't need to burn trees.

All you really need
is carbon, ingenuity,
and elbow grease.

* * *

Notes:

"Chop wood, carry water" is a Zen tenet.

There are various alternatives to firewood, such as bricks of compressed paper or sawdust, used for ecological reasons.  Learn how to roll newspaper logs, make paper bricks from pulp or pages, and make wax-bound bricks with sawdust or coffee grounds.