Out where the cottonwoods lean on the breeze,
and rivers carve songs through the sage,
a lone rider hums to the hush of the trees,
an echo of some other age.
His boots wear the dust of a thousand trails,
his hat wears the weight of the sun,
but his heart still believes in wide-open tales,
and dreams in the key of a gun.
The campfires remember the names that he spoke,
the horses still answer his sigh,
and somewhere beyond where the prairie smoke broke,
the past rides eternal and high.
Categories:
campfires, nature, western,
Form: Cowboy Poetry
May we all take time today
and for a moment
a little while
sit back,
relax…
and remember with a smile…
all the tastes,
the smells,
the sights
the sounds
all the memories we’ve acquired…
While sitting with our family and friends
around the flames of a campfire.
Categories:
campfires, fire,
Form: Rhyme
Today I’m thankful for campfires and how we love them so
Each campfire reminding us of a time…when time itself moves slow
A time when the world stands still
and we were as we were created to be…
young and pure…
unbothered…
innocent and free
Categories:
campfires, thanks,
Form: Rhyme
We love to light campfires in the mountains…especially in the Fall
In the cool of the evening…our fires are warm…and cozy…
they are intimate…and small.
A campfire has the power to mesmerize…to relax us for a while…
as we sit and watch it’s colors change…we close our eyes…and smile.
I love watching the flames leap into the air…in the silence of the night
seeing the faces of friends and family…illuminated by its light.
There is magic in a campfire…in the way it casts a spell
taking us to the place within our memory where other campfires dwell.
Suddenly we’ve moved…we’re not sitting at the same campfire anymore.
We’re children telling stories…toasting marshmallows…making s’mores.
And we realize it’s not just this campfire we love…it’s all the campfires we’ve amassed
and that a campfire’s special gift is how it links to all the campfires of our past.
And we remember with fondness a time…when we were more innocent and free
when nothing else mattered in our lives…
but a campfire…
friends
and family.
Categories:
campfires, fire,
Form: Rhyme
Campfires and Thunderstorms
Campfires and thunderstorms:
Heads poke out from under cover
To see clouds bursting
That swell the river.
Ears prick to hear tree-snapping sounds
As lightning cracks and thunder booms.
Torrential rains pour down to soak the ground;
The firewood gets wet, and the tent becomes waterlogged.
Dismal and miserable, the campers reflect;
Then, their eyes fix upon the canoe tucked away,
Still overturned and safely protected.
Sighs of relief are exhaled as they sit and wait.
Categories:
campfires, adventure, nature, storm, weather,
Form: Verse
Angels of Night Lights
David J Walker
If they carried messages of hope
I could understand
But my father simply watches
As my brothers sit at distant
Campfires warming their transparent souls
All at the expense of my
restless dreams
No one ever speaking although I can
Hear them singing songs
That I didn’t know they knew
My mother never frowns as
Her eyes smile and her lips
Silently whisper secrets she could
Have told me before she walked
Into the night as I watched
Some sleepers are comforted by
Angels of lights
Plugged into empty sockets on
The wall
Categories:
campfires, angel,
Form: Rhyme
Campfires
I have been around them
Burned sausages
Smoke in my eyes
My heart has been hot
My back has been cold
Friends; lost and found
A vacancy sign; removed from my armpit
I have looked into the flames
I have put them out
I tought about that today
We sat in a circle, 2 meter apart
Talked about our back ailments
Almost like sitting around a campfire
Categories:
campfires, age, change, fire, friendship,
Form: Free verse
The campfire radiated warmth
in the chilled night
As excitement of the flames
danced across dark tree trunks
Wisps of silver grey smoke
moved in rhythm matching
every curve and dip
Mesmerizing glowing orange embers
ascend on nature's breath
whispering kisses making the
gentle breeze looked flushed
All leaving one feeling intoxicated
watching this warm breathtaking dance
Categories:
campfires, dance, fire,
Form: Free verse
Campfires
hypnotic light,
through eons of desire,
lift up hearts on darkening nights
in flight.
Categories:
campfires, faith, hope, nature,
Form: Cinquain
A dark shadow passes over the land
I wonder if I'll ever see the sun shine agian
A haunting wind moves through the trees
With a cry for a fallen Cherokee
From the heaven's angels weep and their tears fall upon this land
Others call it rain but I know different and understand
A brave warroir has walked the hanging road
He has reached the campfires in the sky, he has gone home
For those of us who miss him here
Our loss is great for he was so dear
Rest peacefully my friend now that we're apart
Fond memories we carry always in our hearts
Categories:
campfires, loss, native american, sad,
Form: I do not know?
So sing the songs of campfires
And sing them without fail—
Sing them now among the pyres
And sing them on the trail.
Tell of things that used to be,
Tell of those gone before—
Make them stop now and just see,
Our heritage and lore.
And let them not forget us
Or all the things we’ve done—
We may brag and fight and cuss,
But we sure had some fun!
Don’t let those campfires burn out—
We got stories to spin!
The West is what we’re about—
We must remember when.
So sing them now all your days
And sing them to the Lord—
Sing them now a hundred ways
Before you cross that ford.
So sing the songs of campfires
And sing them without fail—
Sing them now among the pyres
And sing them on the trail.
Categories:
campfires, cowboy-western, history, introspection, nostalgia,
Form: Cowboy Poetry