THE BOX
“What is this box before me?”
I ask with bated breath.
A glimpse of something that I know,
yet do not wish to know.
I draw closer.
Dark and sinister,
the box seems to cry out with malice.
Its edges rough,
texture coarse to touch,
filthy far beyond naked vision.
Still, it captivates me with a force
that betrays my resolve…
I recognize this box all too well.
I have seen and I have touched,
I have opened this box a thousand times
— perhaps, too many times –-
heeding its whispered call:
“I am yours for the taking, Pandora.”
Far greater is the temptation,
far greater is the fall.
And as the box calls my name again,
I succumb once more.
There is no key here, as always,
now I realize, I am the key.
“Welcome to your destruction, Pandora.”
I give in,
and then lose my soul again.

Art by Fiona Sansom. Rights to this do not belong to me
Copyright © J.Gi Federizo