Book excerpt: According to poet Paul Jason Bartholomew, a poet is a conductor who arouses and awakens the dormant inner sanctum of self-awareness. In his poetry collection, A Warm Fire: Poems of Faith, Family, and Friends to Warm the Heart, he uses passion and pathos as powerful motivating instruments in conducting a personal symphony to which we alone can harmonize. From picking berries and apples to tapping sap for maple syrup, pouring wax for fragrant candles, and from warm fires on snowy nights to sledding and autumn walks, the subjects of his poetry evoke a warm and happy life. Grab a mug of steaming coffee and come absorb the crackle and aroma of a cozy fire in the old stone fireplace as you dive into this new poetry collection, A Warm Fire. Curved and crooked is this leaf-strewn path originally made by a cow and her calf. still overlaced with leafy arms, like most local lanes to local farms. The road is special to my wife and me treelined sentinels for my family. Tread through mud, snow autumn leaves alone, we built a place at its end called Home! from The Lane