Wednesday, 12 September 2018

THE BOX




It came wrapped in paper and string,
Six sided dull and brown,
No sender’s name nor address,
No tell tale weight nor rattling sound.
Sealing wax with no seal -
Your average tied brown box.
No shuffling of straw, no pings of glass,
No warning ticks or tocks.

Just a box.

What angel feathers or sunshine gold,
What treasures lie inside?
Forgotten poems and ancient tales,
The last of the kwagga’s hide,
Or devil’s claws and bottled beasts,
Witches curséd locks;
Poisoned wine or a ticking mine,
An infectious plaguing pox,

In the box?

Should I be wise and let alone
Or fall to Pandora’s fate?
The seal looks ripe and the string slender -
The contents shall not wait.
But its a thing and I am alive,
I must look after myself,
So decision rests for the future
And the box lies on the shelf.

Copyright © Jason Horsler
07/93

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