Shel Silverstein
Who’s ready for some Q? De Jackson (WhimsyGizmo) here, and it’s Quadrille Monday (my favorite!) The Quadrille is a dVerse invention, a poem of precisely 44 words, including one specific given word that’s different each time. Today, I want you to craft a poem around the word box. After all, what are our Quadrilles, if not tiny stories in poem boxes?
Hey, remember Pandora’s box? (Open with caution!)
Wikipedia
According to Wiki, if we break down the etymology of the word “box” in the Greek, it was actually a large storage jar, often used to store wine, oil or grain, or, ritually, as a container for a human body, “from which it was believed souls escaped and necessarily returned.” (Wikipedia)Perhaps your poem’s box has a much larger, deeper meaning, also. Is it a room (a jail cell, a cubicle, a broom closet)? A brain? An intangible gift to the soul?
Who remembers the chilling end scene of the movie Seven?
Go dark. Go deep. Or wrap us up something shiny and beautiful, with a great big bow. Put on your boxing gloves and poem like a butterfly, sing like a bee. Give us some Seussian rhyme time (Would you like them in a box? Or with a fox?)
But don’t let me box you in. Maybe you’ll be inspired by the song “Living in a Box” by none other than…“Living in a Box.” (Ah, the 80s.)
Lots of things come in boxes – treasures of all shapes and sizes, surprises. So surprise us today. Write us a poem of exactly 44 words, not including the title, and poem-pummel some form of the word “box” in there somewhere.
New to the Q? Here’s what to do:
Write your Q44. Link it up to Mr. Linky below, and then spar your way through cyberspace to read some of the best poets in the ring. The prompt is open all week, so come back for seconds!
Now, I’ll leave you with these words from Forrest Gump.
dVerse 
Hellooooo, Poets! Happy Q-ing. It’s noon here in Southern Nevada, so I am serving up some box lunches, and lemonade. Come chill with me.
Hi De! Hi poets! We seem to have lost the summer at the moment over here in the UK; it’s been raining all day and some of the leaves on our cherry tree are already looking autumnal! But the box lunches and lemonade still sound wonderful. It’s a good job they’re virtual, though, as I started the Moseley diabetes diet again today. Reading poems will take my mind off it. 🙂
And to make things worse, we’re going to be without electricity from 8.30 – 15.30 tomorrow – a planned power cut. So I’m going to meet up for coffee with a friend – I might have to bend the diet just a little…
Awww, I feel ya, Kim. Back on the wagon myself today, food-wise. Sorry ’bout your power. Happy reading!
Hey, this is very cool. So glad I stumbled upon this lovely place. And you’ve got box lunches, as well!? Do you have anything gluten-free? Thanks for a fun prompt!
Welcome to dVerse! So glad you found us (or we found you)!
Welcome, Victoria! So glad you’re here! You’re gonna love it here!
Fun fun! I will see what I can come up with!
So glad you’re here! 🙂
Thank you!
Good to see you De! Hope you enjoyed your vacation with the family.
Thanks for hosting and see you in the poetry trail in a bit!
I did, Grace, thank you. We’ve been back a couple of weeks but still trying to get back into a groove. Kids started school today, though, so that’ll help.
Hello Nevada! Lemonade sounds great! Just the thing for a hot August afternoon is sw Ontario.
Hot here, too, V.J. 107, to be exact. I’m sooooo over it. Pouring you a double.
Perfect. 107 is a bit much.
It is, indeed. Whew.
Thanks for hosting, De! I tried my first “reverse” poem with this one.
Loved it, Frank. So glad you’re here! 🙂
This prompt has got me thinking of Stan Ridgway and Stewart Copeland’s song “Don’t Box Me In” from Ruble Fish.
I’ve gotta go find this now…if only because I ADORED your poem.
Many thanks to Shawna for pointing me here:
I thought of this song, too, but I always hear Pete Seeger singing it. 🙂
Hello from soggy Boston, everyone! Rain and humidity = soggy soggy!
I went out of the box for this one! Will be reading with my coffee in the AM.
Happy Monday everyone!
Hi, Lill! Happy to see you! Send me some rain!
Hi everyone! Thanks for hosting, De. 🙂
The word “box” allowed me to release some anxiety about closed spaces.
I did however just return from some very wide open places along the ocean, hiking on high cliffs, spotting whales, speeding for miles in a zodiac, gazing at the sea and sky…..in the beautiful province of Newfoundland. If you ever feel boxed in, this is the place to go. A phenomenal experience.
Oh, Mish. That sounds AMAZING. So glad you got to get away to such an incredible place!
Thanks, De. It truly was. I didn’t want to come home. We stayed in a community with a population of 40, lived with the locals who were the most friendliest people I have ever met, only a few steps away from the ocean. 🙂
Oh, MY. Now THAT’S the way to vacation!
Evening, Poets! Thanks, De Jackson, for the out-of-the-box thinking in this challenge! You already know what I want! 🙂
Red (boxed) wine it is, Sir. 🙂
😆
Hi De and poets all! Thanks for the hospitality and musical entertainment tonight 🙂
Hi, lynn! 🙂
Something different from my side 🙂 hope you like it De! ❤️
Welcome, Sanaa. Heading over now. 🙂
I’ve never written a quadrille before and am not really sure of the rules. It was fun to express my thoughts on the boxes in my life at present though. 🙂
Hi, Suzanne. As we said above, the Quadrille is simply a poem of exactly 44 words, including one word we provide each time. This week the word is “box” (or boxing, boxed, etc.) Just 44 words, with some form of that word. Form, rhyme, rhythm, etc are all poet’s choice. Easy-peasy. 😉
Hi De – not time til now for those 44 words but thank you for a prompt which took me back to ‘American Beauty’ and those younger days
Hi, Laura! Heading over now!
Hi De- great prompt. Will be reading shortly!
Great to see you here! Heading over soon!
Hi De– so many ways to go with this one. All I could think of was gloomy yesterday, so I waited until today.
Merril, it’s always okay to go dark, but BOY do I love your beautiful, light-hearted piece!
Awww—thanks so much, De! 🙂
Hi De,
I finally did something with Box, jukebox as it turns out. And bringing up the rear, lol! Thanks for hosting.
Pat
Pat! How awesome! I didn’t even think of that one! Heading over now. 🙂
Thank you for the prompt and for hosting De. I am so glad this is open all week, because I have been boxed into work so solidly for three days that I haven’t been able to finish this until tonight. But it has been bouncing around the cubicle since then. Is the Diet Coke still cold, or is it warm from sitting around for three days. 🙂
Always have a nice cold drink left for you, Lona. 🙂