This week, let’s write a boxing poem. The poem could be about boxing things up after some event or boxing an opponent in the ring or it could be in celebration of Boxing Day. Whatever the result, post your outside-the-box poem in the comments below.
About Bartholomew Barker
Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina where he has hosted a monthly feedback workshop for more than decade. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he lives and writes poetry.
Living Poetry 
I am going to be cheeky to post the one I wrote and posted today in response to this prompt.
http://flickerofthoughts.com/2022/12/26/the-decline-of-loneliness/
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | December 26, 2022, 7:16 AMA lovely heartfelt poem. Perhaps this is what prompted my prompt.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | December 26, 2022, 12:55 PMI agree with Bartholomew’s comment. But I do have a question. Why do you say you are or were cheeky? You shared your gift … and I thank you for that.
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Posted by Donncha or Dennis (Irish and English - I answer to either and both) | December 26, 2022, 1:06 PMHi Dennis, thanks for reading. I wrote this poem before Bartholomew posted the prompt. Instead of writing a new piece based on the prompt, I used a previous post, therefore I was cheeky. Hope that explained.
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | December 26, 2022, 2:48 PMSo sad. But also relatable. Sending a virtual hug,
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Posted by JeanMarie | December 26, 2022, 8:31 PMThank you JeanMarie! 🤗
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | December 27, 2022, 6:01 AMBoxing Day – had not even crossed their minds,
As they gathered ’round Aisling’s kitchen’s hearth,
the oh-so-many chores of the past month done and gone,
for it was now theirs to plan their day,
when they, no one else, could celebrate,
the 24-hour reverie, long since known as
Nollaig na mBan – Women’s Christmas.
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Posted by Donncha | December 26, 2022, 8:04 AMVery cool! I’d never heard of Nollaigh na mBan before. Great Holiday!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | December 26, 2022, 1:06 PMNice!
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Posted by JeanMarie | December 26, 2022, 8:28 PMBox senryu
Boxes are open
All are wearing thier new socks
recycle Christmas tree
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Posted by JeanMarie | December 27, 2022, 12:46 AMExcellent image from the morning after.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | December 27, 2022, 5:41 PMLike this! Cute and succinct.
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Posted by ts19page | December 29, 2022, 9:28 AMI’m trying to see the benefits
Of boxing parts of myself in
It seems untrue and impure
A misrepresentation and lie
How can I say I love you
If I don’t feel exactly what I say or seem
My box should always be open
That supposed truth screams at me
Why are you not yourself
Full of hate and fear
Meanness and vile basics
All the time for all to see
And if you can’t change your feelings
You should at least be honest in failing
But I am training to no longer be
Fighting the reality that people are more than simple dichotomies –
we are unbound hypocrites of desire and whim
Fairness to us is one-sided to them
And compartmentalizing is no sin
Perhaps rather than bringing out
And later boxing back in
Personas for others to falsely perceive
It is in fact choosing – an act of not giving in
Saying no to rash words
No to addiction again
No to immediate desire
Pretend and smile, patience opened
Kindness deshelved and dusted off
If actions speak louder than words
Than how much more they must shout
Over unrestrained base emotion
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Posted by John | December 28, 2022, 11:55 PMIt has taken me two reads to even begin to find words of reply. I’m not there yet – ready to reply. Maybe after a 3rd or 4th read. Or, perhaps, that IS my reply. I love the non-obvious.
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Posted by Dennis | December 29, 2022, 7:46 AMThe box of the real self, necessary for civilization to continue, it seems. The penultimate line seems to need the word ‘then’ not ‘than’.
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Posted by ts19page | December 29, 2022, 9:28 AMThank you for the correction.
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Posted by John | December 29, 2022, 10:43 AMVery nice. Love the “supposed truth screams” at you. Thanks for sharing!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | December 29, 2022, 6:46 PMThank you! I’m going to try to follow along with your prompts.
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Posted by John | December 29, 2022, 7:23 PM