Ⅰ
It is often said, more than not,
That curiosity doth kill the cat–
One such tale I almost forgot,
Is the origin of hope and misery, it is said.
Misinterpreted and misread,
It remains a tale as old as time,
Of warnings not heeded,
Of lessons, of evils and blessings, combined.
So the story goes,
About a woman made of clay,
Who once got so curious,
She let all rhyme and reason slip away–
Oh, Pandora, if only you knew,
The things upon us you’d unleashed,
I wonder if the guilt still plagues you,
If you think about the jar you once unsealed.
But what indeed was Pandora’s fault?
Could any of us have done differently?
If I’d been given a jar full of secrets,
I’d probably also take a peek.
ⅠⅠ
So the story goes,
The jar was filled to the brim
With all manners of evil and misery,
But also, as a last resort, hope.
And like every can of worms left open,
There come consequences unseen,
Don’t go around blaming Pandora
If you’re dealing with the outcome of your idiocy.
But there comes with every bad news,
The hope for something good–
Should all evil come to pass,
There’s always hope to hold onto.
And somewhere within all of it,
Lie answers to questions we never had–
Will tomorrow be better? Maybe,
For there’s always hope to be had.
And within all of it, too,
Lies a lesson to be learned:
Don’t let curiosity always get the best of you,
Oh, and maybe beware of gifts with shady origins.
ⅠⅠⅠ
So the story goes,
Pandora had the mind to quickly seal
The jar, or box, whatever it was,
Before it became a messier deal.
It was only human, I believe,
The allure of the forbidden singing,
Whispering, twisting any remaining sanity,
Into bad decisions born of curiosity.
Perhaps Pandora’s jar,
And everything that she freed,
Is just another twisted metaphor
For wanting to know the unknown and unseen.
But there’s another lesson,
One that remained hidden in the jar so deep,
The reason we wake up every morning,
Even when burdened with misery–
Yes, perhaps Pandora released
All sorts of evil we could never defeat,
But the hope of it all keeps us going,
Even when burdened with misery.
The next time you blame Pandora
For things that ruin your peace,
Perhaps think, also, of the hope she saved;
It keeps you going, even with all the misery.
~© Shubhangi Srinivasan.
Boy, oh boy. Where to even begin with today’s prompt! It totally kicked my butt and wiped the floor with it. At least figuratively.
I can’t be bothered to explain everything today because it is one long-ass prompt with a whole lot of complexity, so here’s the prompt directly copied from napowrimo.net: “Try writing a poem that makes reference to one or more myths, legends, or other well-known stories, that features wordplay (including rhyme), mixes formal and informal language, and contains multiple sections that play with a theme. Try also to incorporate at least one abstract concept – for example, desire or sorrow or pride or whimsy.”
Of course, the myth I chose was about Pandora’s jar. YES, I said ‘jar’, not ‘box’. Apparently, the real story is about a jar, and was later changed in somebody else’s interpretation of it. Anyway, if you want to read more about Pandora’s jar, you can find it here. The whole thing is a metaphor about life. All sorts of evil escaped the jar because Pandora was a little curious, but she saved hope. I guess that’s what they mean when they say ‘hope is all there is left’. It literally was the only thing left in the jar, and that’s kinda’ hopeful, when you think about it. Isn’t it?
I would have completed this sooner if it wasn’t for the fact that this is probably one of the hardest prompts I’ve challenged myself to attempt. I would’ve just skipped the prompt altogether, but that wouldn’t have been very productive. I have promised myself that I will push myself to write better, this year, and that is exactly what I shall do. Anyway, at the end of the day, it’s about having participated in something this big, at all.
See you tomorrow with a new poem?
Yours truly,
The Shubhster.
If you like my poem, please do leave a comment or follow my blog! I write a lot of random but interesting stuff, and I try to keep it real. If you think someone you know would appreciate the things I write, feel free to share my page with them! You can also reach out to me on my Twitter or Instagram handles. I always appreciate seeing new people come up to me and tell me they like what I write! It doesn’t happen as often as I would like for it to, but let’s change that, maybe?
This has been day 12 of 30!
See you tomorrow?
Cheerio! Xx
Featured Image by jaikishan patel on Unsplash
The Shubhster Diaries 
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