Hi Hayley - Welcome to Caedes.
Really interesting abstract fractal like macro??... - i chose to look at it because it really stood out. The silhouette of the sticks as you say look like they form a cage around the fire. The bent shapes make them look almost metal. Overall the image is very busy, the darkness of the right and bottom calm the composition down a bit. The darks, oranges and yellows are good colours when blended, so a fire is a pretty good subject. I like also the contrast between the hard lines in the foreground and the blurry movement of the fire in the background - it gives the image depth.
Great work - love to see what your normal images are like. Thanks for posting.

Great picture--I thought it was a manip from the thumbnail. As for improving it, you might try upping the saturation some to make the colors more intense.

This picture is nice because it is very full with a lot going on. It really keeps the eye moving around, which is a positive thing in almost any case. :-) On the other hand, there seems to be no center of focus (and by focus, I don't mean the camera's focus, but where the eye is supposed to go...the moveable center, you might say). Also, there isn't much to frame the shot or give it perspective. If you try working around larger pieces of wood, they start to create shapes in your viewfinder. This really helps when you are framing up the shot. They also tend to give the image a bit more purpose if it is either identifiable with or completely abstract. I hope that made sense. :-) Keep practicing and posting; I am seeing some definite improvement already!