Pandora

Rise of the sun, small paper 

Of fortune dissolved on the tongue,

Wave goodbye to simple days

And hello to the gun, the blast to infinity,
Wrought iron gates creak and shudder,

Swinging open to a world of smiles and swirls,

Reality unfurled.

Like a carpet, once in two dimensions,
Now three that can mention simplicity past,

duplicitous farce of the mask and the blindfold lifted

A form of magic lore, born chemically pure,

Labs needn't know nor heed Pandora,

The box they did open without the intention

To see what they saw.

And those who then followed,

Through the wormhole,

The warping portal,

Tunnelling mortals to immortality,

This isn't for fun, friend, please heed my words,

This is no light-hearted game of the birds

But a challenge that may break and disturb,

Inherent destruction resting above your head,

Held by but a thread of the fur

Consider this as Mount Everest,
It will change your life,

And once through it you're bettered,

Though it may displeasure,

And that's not all, your journey may fall

Into darkness and trouble of mind, inner struggle,
The hike not a walk but a climb without safety

It's happened before, people have died,

No joke, no lie, I once was a man

On the brink of this cliff, driven to suicide

And while I survived, it was ever close by,

My ending a painful flash narrowly missed

But do not heed my words as judgement,

Nor prohibition, or forcing decision,

In self serving mission
For yours is the choice, this verse but a warning,

To take great precaution,

And not lose your portion

Of sane stable faculty

So now is the time,

The time to decide,
Your junction a fork,

Do you dare open this box of the mind?

If you do, or do not, I'm here by your side

Reviews

[poetdoug]

What a great write. I love the title and the way you incorporated it completely through until the ending.
It all fits together nicely to make a very thought-challenging point.

[Subversive Reality]

Thank you very much for the review. You hit the nail on the head regarding the title, I wanted to convey the sense of endless potential destruction contained within a small box, or in this case a little square of paper.

[Enid Blake]

Hmmm, the path to enlightenment is paved with hidden landmines. One must tread very carefully, if at all in that direction. I like the depth to this.

[Subversive Reality]

Thanks for the review, it is indeed awash with hidden landmines, punjee sticks, tripwires and booby traps, most of which I seem to have set off. They should call me the minesweeper, although I am now retired so to speak.

[fwvalidus]

Your writing is very good, I progress through this poem smoothly which I quite enjoy, especially the last 3 stanzas. My favourite stanza is the final one which I think it always should be! However, I believe this poem is a bit too long for my preference, I like it dense and full of content despite brevity. A great topic too, tons of potential I see here :)

[Subversive Reality]

Hi, thanks for the constructive review, I also think its too long, but I couldn't work out where to make a cut, I know I should take out something from the middle but I like each bit too much! I may send you a read request if I figure out how to shorten it.

Thanks again