Boxes All Around Us
Boxes, all shapes and sizes
Boxes all around us,
Many shapes and sizes,
Square, rectangular, and round,
Sometimes holding prizes.
Choose the money or the box,
The choice is up to you.
Pull the curtain to the side
It’s all you have to do.
Fast food comes in boxes,
Pizza, chicken too.
Fruit is shipped in boxes,
And it’s how we buy our shoes.
Buy a house or have it built,
A box for you to live.
Present a box to your loved one,
“Will you accept this ring?”
Boxes hold a lady’s treasures
Like valuables and jewels.
For a handyman or tradesman
It’s a place to store his tools.
A toy box holds our playthings
When we are just a child,
And our body’s placed within a box
When we grow old and die.
by John Hansen © 2017
Longtime poet but not in the traditional technical sense. I enjoy rhyme but like to experiment and dabble in many different forms and maybe even make up some of my own. There is always a message or lesson I want to promote through my writing, for that reason, my poetry generally shies away from the abstract and obscure.
Now I find myself branching out and experimenting with short fiction, and thoroughly enjoying this, especially flash fiction.
I have been fortunate to have two poems made into songs and recorded. The first "On the Road to Kingdom Come" by Al Wordlaw, and the second, "If I Could Write a Love Poem" by award-winning Israeli/British singer Tally Koren.
My services increasingly in demand as a freelance writer and I have ghost-written the text for a number of children's books and educational tutorials.
It has taken me many years of searching and restlessness to realise that my life's passion is to write. It saddens me that I wasted so many years not devoting to that, but thinking positively, the experiences gained over those years are now wonderful material for my stories and poems.
I want to try to bring a new focus on poetry and try to make it appealing to a new generation of young people and those who thought they never liked or understood it before.
Now I find myself branching out and experimenting with short fiction, and thoroughly enjoying this, especially flash fiction.
I have been fortunate to have two poems made into songs and recorded. The first "On the Road to Kingdom Come" by Al Wordlaw, and the second, "If I Could Write a Love Poem" by award-winning Israeli/British singer Tally Koren.
My services increasingly in demand as a freelance writer and I have ghost-written the text for a number of children's books and educational tutorials.
It has taken me many years of searching and restlessness to realise that my life's passion is to write. It saddens me that I wasted so many years not devoting to that, but thinking positively, the experiences gained over those years are now wonderful material for my stories and poems.
I want to try to bring a new focus on poetry and try to make it appealing to a new generation of young people and those who thought they never liked or understood it before.
Latest posts by John Hansen (see all)
- The First Word – A Flash Fiction Story - January 18, 2024
- Dawns Song ~ and Twilight Serenade - December 1, 2023
- Weave Me a Story - June 15, 2023
That last box is inevitable for us. I like this poem a lot, John – boxes fascinate me, I collect boxes of ceramic, glass,wood, pewter and bronze. Nice work on this verse.
Yes, Phyllis boxes are intriguing. They are everywhere, and yes the last one is hard to avoid.
We take so much for granted don’t we, and when someone brings attention, we suddenly realize something like a box is an intrinsic part of life. WE live in them, eat from them, work in them and in the end take our final sleep in one. Nice work John
Yes, Tony we do take things like boxes for granted and not realise how much our life relies on them. Thanks for reading.
I prefer to stay outside of the box, especially the last one John……. Going for broke on this my friend…. Lol… Enjoyed the read very much.
Kurt, I too prefer to stay outside that final box at least. Glad you enjoyed reading this.
Love the ending John – I’ll pass on that box myself!
Thank you, Ralph. You comment is appreciated.
Yeah I’m not looking forward to that box either John so I hope I have a long time before I see its face. Very cool piece on something like Tony said we take for granted, boxes do hold an important part in many of our daily lives. Good one~Paul
Hey, Paul, Thank you. None of us want to embrace that final box do we? For good reason. We do take a lot of things for granted that are all around us, boxes being one.
John,
Such a whimsical poem about something so simple: a box.
You have created a most magnificent poem, here, about “Boxes all around Us”!
I love this poem! It’s so cute, too.
And, it has that surprise ending!
Completely enjoyable!
Thank you, Tamara. Sometimes what seem the simplest poems can have a surprising effect on people. I had fun writing this and I am glad you enjoyed it.