Pandora

Cunning built Pandora

Revenge and petty anger

Crafted innocence to

Deliver their poisoned wine

In the guise of a kindness

It was not enough

To punish the fire-thief

The gods wanted judgment

Upon the fire-acceptors too

Flames had been a g i f t

Punishment would be 

Wrapped as one too

So beauty draped Pandora

Grace followed in her steps

But cunning, ah cunning

Planted the seed of curiosity

The gods made her irresistible

And the box they made irresistible

To her 

It was nothing very special 

(on the outside)

Just a plain square 

Carved of weathered wood

How could she have known

She held on her f i n g e r t i p s 

All the despairs of humanity?

Cunning had planted the seed

Now it bloomed with urgency

Innocence trembled with

Anticipation

Gave way to temptation

And so the world fell

Cunning set the trap

But kindness wrapped the wound

And in the back

Of the now-near-empty box

Pandora found Hope

Bright-feathered-fellow

Of a thousand names

The color of a candle 

In the darkness

The color of a lighthouse

In a storm

Shaky fingers and

S h a t t e r e d i n n o c e n c e 

Soothed with the 

Promise of dawn

As Hope whispered

To the bowed head

And broken spirit

This was not your fault

And, 

Clinging to the words,

Pandora arose

To face her world

Changed