F Is For Fire
Fire-themed wordplay for the young at heart
Give me the child until seven and I’ll give you the adult. So said the Jesuits, or Aristotle, or someone. Whoever said it is damn creepy. Ain’t no children being given to anyone over here, thank you very much!
But the broader point about the value of talking to kids is a fine one. We don’t do it much in academia and that’s a shame. Lucky for those kids, I am especially childish. Unluckily for those kids, none of them have heard of me and none never will. Oh well.
Here’s some fire-related word play for kids and anyone young at heart. Anyone old at heart can go read some dry scientific journal articles about fire (I’ve written a bunch).
Fire Is Hot!
Fire is hot!
It can burn you
You must learn to
deal with fire
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Fire has flames!
Flames go higher
As they burn
they make more fire
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Hypnotising!
Tantalising!
Mesmerising!
And surprising!
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Fire burns - don’t get distracted!
Burning might get quite protracted
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Keep your cool
Don’t be a fool
You must learn to
deal with fire
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Comment: Daughter Number Three drew an awesome comic to go with this, involving a poor sap Dave who keeps trying to touch the fire
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Fire Inside, Fire Outside
Feed the fire that burns inside
And keeps you strong to get along
The fire outside that I just spied
Has me a little more concerned
About the stuff that might get burned
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But the fire inside can rage and storm
So maybe turn it down to warm
And an outside burn that’s cool and light
Is the type that might just set things right
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It would be so nice if we had a guide
For just how fire should be applied
That the food might cook for the feast in store
That the wares might bake behind the big kiln door
That the heart might sing and the soul might soar
That the land might hold us ever more
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Yelling Fire in a Crowded Theatre
To start a fire there’s three things you need
Something to burn like a tree or a weed
Weather that’s hot, dry and preferably windy
(The kind of day they might close the kindy)
The last thing’s a spark, to do the igniting
From hazard reduction, arson or lightning
Australia’s no stranger to each of these things
We’re a flammable country with all that it brings
Death and destruction, renewal and hope
The sprouting of seedlings triggered by smoke
The pulling of strings on the public purse
But there’s another question in which I’m immersed
That I’m using to slake my epistemic thirst:
Is climate change making our bushfires worse?
We know that it’s warming, this favours more fire
For the rest of the weather, uncertainty’s higher
Rain builds up fuel, rain stops it from burning
Depends where you are, it’s a balance, we’re learning
And carbon dioxide - that’s good for plants, right?
Not equally good, that’s a major insight
And all of that doesn’t take us into account
Human complexity’s tough to surmount!
Climate, fuel, people, ignition, and weather
My trivial task is to put them together
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Comment: This is from my PhD days, when I entered a 3 Minute Thesis competition and my supervisor suggested I might stand out if I rhymed. Didn’t win, but amazingly still remember it word for word (mostly) over ten years later!
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F Is For Fire
A is for Ash
B is for Blaze
C is for Country that’s Cared for always
D is for Dryness
E is for Ember
F is for Fire, easy to remember
G is for Grass
H is for Heath
I is Ignite, if it’s dry underneath
J is for Jump, which fires can do
K is for Kiln, where fire works for you
L is for Lightning
M is for Map
N is for Night, when fire takes a nap
O is for Oxygen
P is for Plants
Q is the Quiet that follows fire’s dance
R is for Risk to things that we love
S is for Smoke lofted high up above
T is for Torch, a fiery club
U is for Unburnt despite the hubbub
V is for Volatile
W is Weather
X is for Xylem that holds plants together
(but falters when fried, leaving problems inside)
Y is for Years that can pass between burning
Z is for Zest for all fiery learning
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Comment: Initial list constructed with the help of Daughter Number 3
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A Novel Method In Verse
To study fire in all its glory
Takes time and wit and funding too.
The earth ablaze tells quite a story
Albeit one few listen to.
But reading Pushkin sparked a question:
Could versifying aid digestion
of otherwise dull, arid facts
about wildfire and its impacts?
Dry weather, fuel and now ignition.
The crackle soon becomes a roar
(a warming world holds more in store -
the bitter fruits of my tuition).
The roar subsides, the earth abides,
and science, scholars hope, provides.
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Comment: Wrote this Pushkin-and-Hofstadter-inspired stanza a few years ago and already blogged about it, but seemed worth including it here.
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Love it! There's always a different way of approaching a topic - an essence of good teaching. Thus opening the door to someone who may not otherwise be reached
Children's book incoming? I have a couple of toddler nephews who would be very keen!