A man appears and offers me a key
To Pandora's box, on which no lock I see
"How do I open this box?" I ask, with the key in hand
He looks at me, pained, and says, "Thy box opens on command"
"Open, thou box!" I declare, with all the power I can voice
The box begins to open, and I consider not my choice
"It moved, it opened!" I cry, proud of my mighty feat
"You fool" he says, "leave now before the box becomes thy defeat."
Hearing not the man, I grab the box and look inside
If Hubris was a man, I would offend him with my pride
I show the box to those I love and glean:
"This box I control, as an angel does her wings"
"Canst thou close this box?" Asks one from the crowd
"Of course", I boast, and declare "Box, I command thee close now"
The box begins to rumble and serpents fly out
followed by darkness, in waves of clouds
The crowd is attacked, all those I love!
What sort of evil thing have I done?
I jump to the box and shout, "take me, instead!
They will not miss me, no tears will be shed"
The box whirls and glows from inside
Suddenly the darkness at once subsides
The snakes disappear, no longer seen
We all are all safe, healthy and clean
I turn around to embrace my mother
She whispers in my ear, "take care of thy brother"
I look down, forgetting to stand
And spy a snake bite on the side of her hand
The box opens up, for one last time
And my mother lets go
Of the hand that held mine
The man appears once more to greet his victim
And suddenly I realize the bite contained worse than venom
The two disappear, with the key and lock
And I am left lonely, with an empty box.
