Many a dark evening

Gathering outside with friends

Around a fire pit

Adult beverages flowing

Somebody claims control

To feed and poke the fire

Sending sparks into the air

Amid the billowing smoke

The flames are mesmerizing

Everybody chips in

With ideas when to feed the beast

The fire takes center stage

As we all debate the plot

In this open air theatre

Chairs in a circle

Crafty folk arrive early

Claiming the upwind places

Hoping to avoid the smoke

But the fire is boss

Commanding the breeze

It changes at his will

Sending sooty hot gases everywhere

Nobody escapes the fumes

We all go home reeking of soot

This days are no more

For now we have a gas fire pit

No need to gather piles of wood

No more lighting ritual

No more fire master battles

It lights with a button

The flames burn bright and hot

Without emitting smoke

We still sit in a circle

Adult beverages flow as before

The flames are equally hypnotic

Conversation is just as intense as before

Nobody talks about the old days

But our minds drift back

To those nights of man made fires

The constant poking and meddling

As we battled to master the beast

Who has now been tamed by a gas valve

There is however one huge bonus

Its so nice to wake up the next morning

Without that smokey fragrance clinging to you