Pandora

When I hear about
Pandora
and her little box
of horrors
all I really think
about
is Eve and her
forbidden fruit.

I think,
"This is what you get."
That old cat-killing urge.
Some things are meant
to stay hidden
and if you
disobey
consequences abound.

But over time I've found
the forgotten part.
We're pop-cult kids:
we zone in on the monsters,
the terrors unleashed,
or the temptation
and seduction.

We forget

about what comes after,
about the only one who chose to stay,
the one who would not give up
on humanity.

Hope said, I will stay,
because I think they need me.
They may not know they need me
but I'll stay here
anyway.

Some wrongs may never
be made right
and some doors
once opened
won't close.
But the box is never empty,
not completely empty.
Always, always
there's Hope.