by Gregg Rowe
This Boxing Day in Canada
I get down on my knees with a plea
Forget going to the shopping malls
Spend the day with your family
Instead of returning unwanted presents
Rushing at half price/seventy five percent off tags
Bundle up in your winter attire
Pack up some homemade leftovers in paper bags
Climb in the cold auto, and warm with each breath
Visit a homeless person, or visit the sick
Forget commercialism this Boxing Day
Spreading joy and love would do the trick
So connect with others and give the day off
To commerce that controls our lives in many ways
For just one day, we can stay out of the stores
Remember the tradition of the old ways
Author notes
~ Boxing Day (if you are canadian) <~ why is it called Boxing Day anyway?I always wondered that (bonus points if you write a poem on why it's called Boxing Day)
www.information-entertainment.com/Holidays/boxingday.html
The day after Christmas, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is better known as Boxing Day. The term may come from the opening of church poor boxes that day; maybe from the earthenware boxes with which boy apprentices collected money at the doors of their masters' clients. Boxing Day, celebrated on December 26 in England, Wales, parts of Canada, and in some other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, has nothing to do with the boxes from the Christmas packages.
Traditionally, on that day the gentry would give presents, generally of money, to servants, tradespeople, and others of humble life. These presents came to be known as Christmas boxes. Boxing Day is a legal bank holiday in Canada and England.
The holiday may date from the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown. It may have begun with the lords and ladies of England, who presented Christmas gifts in boxes to their servants on December 26. Or it may have begun with priests, who opened the church's alms boxes on the day after Christmas and distributed the contents to the poor. Or even in England in the middle of the nineteenth century under Queen Victoria.
Supposedly poor people carried empty boxes from door to door, and the boxes were soon filled with food, Christmas sweets, and money. Parents gave their children small gifts such as, oranges, handkerchiefs, and socks. People also placed old clothing that they didn't need anymore in boxes, and they were given to those in need.
Unfortuantely Western Society has mass-marketed it into a billion dollar business, and yes, this includes Canada.
Written December 13th, 2004
In a list
A contest entry
- Our Christmas Spirit by Sky Prince Ireland.
300 points, ended December 10, 2005, 11 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Happy or just shut up already by JosieCheese.
300 points, ended December 11, 2006, 12 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Yule by midnight2000.
525 points, ended December 21, 2006, 7 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Gift Giver or Receiver by Poetess12.
2400 points, ended January 7, 5 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 23 of 23
-
A wonderful write and education on what Boxing day is. I had never heard of Boxing day.
Thank you very much for sharing and thanks for your entry in my contest.
-
As I was reading this I kept wondering why it was called boxing day!! Your notes are very informantive. Congrats on your silver and gold cups. This piece has earned them.
I'm really sorry but I can't give you another gold as my contest was for nothing above a silver. Thank you for sharing this wondeful piece. -
A very nicely penned poem with a great message that one must heed to. I enjoyed the imagery, rhyme, flow and choice of words. Good use of assonance in the poem. The third stanza's first line is my favourite. Thank you for the enlightening notes in the comments area. Merry Christmas and Blessings of the Season!
Char
-
Won't say.
Thanks for entering my contest. I am Canadian too, so I know something about Boxing Day. LOL
-
hey, this is a really beautifully written poem, and the explantation was awesome, thanks for that, i enjoyed reading it and finding out some stuff i have never known before, very upliffting and unique and applied to somewhere else besides America and its good to recieve that reminder that Christmas is all over the world and that we're not the only ones, this was really eye opening and beautifully presented, thank you for this write!!
-
Thanks for a wonderfully written and inspiring poem, Gregg. It carries such a worthwhile message. I long for the old fashioned Christmas spirit, too. As for Boxing Day... I know of it and have often wondered what it really means besides the commercialized day to return unwanted gifts. We don't officially have a Boxing Day in the USA but it sometimes gets called that and is the same rat race as the countries who do celebrate it.
The possible origins you spoke of are very interesting and all very plausable.
Thank you for entering the contest and good luck
I'm going to have a hard time selecting a winner when it's time to judge, so many super poems.
Love and
Dee
-
Great job!
Good, I was wondering if there were going to be some more enteries in Andy's contest, I was like! I Missed some when i was gone all day! I hope you had a good Boxing Day in Canada!Good Luck in Andy's contest, I hope he finds what he is looking for! -
yey canada!
-
ooo gees the rabbit was here, ok..bite tongue. i like your idea of the day after christmas, in my family when we were home, that is what we did, stayed home. i mean why fight all the traffic and stuff if you dont have to its ridiculous just to save a couple of dollars, and talk to surley workers who wish you would stay home, i bet if noone went out, they would have the same sales the next day. i like the visual of the breath in the car, steaming it up. and giving to those less fortunate. we have what is called christmas mother here. it is a program to give less fortunate families and children a real christmas. the office donates every year as do most of the businesses...i like that...if we were more kind to our fellow man on a more frequent basis the world would be a much better place.
-
Dear Gregg,
The retail Boxing Day Bust came to New Zealand too some years ago. It amazes me that after stores advertising their Christmas wares for weeks, suddenly, on Boxing Day, all the unsold leftovers are available at half price!
Well, we won't be shopping on Boxing Day. Because our family
celebrates Christmas in their various family groups (at parents'/inlaws' etc.), we will meet for lunch together at a favoured winery on Boxing Day. Be sure that I will drink a toast to you and my other AP friends on that occasion.
Your poem is a timely and appropriate comment on the commercialisation of what should be a reflective and spiritual time. I applaud you and your write.
My very best wishes and regards, Hugh.
Edited on Dec 14, 1:24 p.m. because ''. -
Nope, no Boxing Day here...I agree, too many holidays are going commercial. In a discussion with a woman I used to work with, she told me her two kids always get NEW four-wheelers every year for Christma. Now, each of these vehicles costs between $6,000-8,000. Granted, they do sell last year's ATVs but really, do kids REALLY need that much? Of course, they receive tons of other presents...but the problem is that the emphasis has been taken off of family and religion in favor of presents. Since I am broke, I've become a bit of a minimalist this year - baking presents for extended family instead of buying them. The only people I spent money on this year were my son and my boyfriend...and at that, I didn't spend much. It's sad really, how much people spend...how much they charge for Christmas, and then end up trying to pay off for the next who knows how many months...only to start again when the weather turns cold and the sprinkling of snowflakes appear. I thought this was very well crafted, and the explanation in your author's comment was very informative. Good luck in the contest...sorry to have talked your ear off....
-
Well, we don't exactly have a Boxing Day in America, esp. not around Ohio, but I agree. So many old, noble traditions and holidays (see: Christmas) are turning steadily more and more commercial. It's kind of sad really, people lose all focus on the true joy and reasonings. I like what you say here.
Amanda -
This poem has a very nice message behind it. It's a very powerful and well penned write.
Thank you for entering. Good luck
Janine
-
I, being boirn and raised in the U. S. have never heard of boxing day. Seems a great holiday, with great traditions. Your message is loud and clear in this though Gregg. I am sure no matter if in Canada or the U.S. one should follow such a great tradition....or adopt it newly as their own. Great write, as always from a great writer.
Blessed be
~~Serenity~~
Billie Jean -
We have boxing day too. This is such a well written poem- so true and so caring
Wonderful poem, stylish and with a good message to
All the best,
Pozo
-
great write! It's so true that people become engulfed in materialism associated with christmas. Christ gave us the greatest gift of all and we should go and help others in the spirit of that gift.
-
Well, You are certainly entitled to a great, laidback Boxing Day after all the hectivity of the month beforehand. Good poem. The meter varied and caused a few rereads to get the flow going again. But the sentiment was well placed and you expressed yourself very well.
-
Dear Gregg, I'm so happy I could inspire you to write this beautiful poem. go take your walk through childhood memories,even if it's only in your imagination, it will be a wonderful journey~Love you Gregg
-
very true .. Xmas has taken way too far and the intent and benefits of christmas has been bastardized by some sort of free market whirlpool on over indulgence. Xmas is a season of excess and extremes
-
7.6/10
Creativity: Being from Canada, I was able to relate instantantly to your allusions. Hence, it was easy for me to tap into my imagination. On the other hand, I wish you would tone down the preachiness in favour of some nuance. 7/10
Innovation: The subject was innovative. There aren't very many Boxing Day poems out there, so it was nice to see one. 8/10
Technique: You are spot-on and tight, maximizing every word. Good job. 8/10
Readability: Apart from the anti-consumerism (even though I, too, am an anti-consumerist), I found it to be fun to read. 7/10
Emotionality: I had fun and was more than entertained. What more can I ask for? 8/10 -
There's nothing more to say about this poem other than it's very, very informative. Nice work.
-
My dear angel: Seems I am taking another turn in my writings, these sentimental journeys of Christmas penning all afternoon makes me want to go and re-visit my boyhood and discover some happy childhood memories for a change. After your first response today on another poem, I found myself penning these sentiments all evening. Maybe another part of my muse coming out, but I think of you as I write these, knowing those days have now gone by and hoping this generation has some similar experiences that they can pen about in later years with the same amount of passion. As always: s Gregg
-
You are so right Gregg, Boxing day was for visiting Relatives and Friends, it was great back then, now unfortunately it's just another holiday, and yes, to visit the stores. Me, I stay away from them as they are like a bull in a china shop when they go through the doors. It would be nice to be able to go back sigh Lovesya~Joan
Adding your comment:
1 - 23 of 23
