The Pandora Paradox
Despair cavorted with destruction.
Envy waltzed with wickedness.
Greed lolligagged with lust.
On that day, Pandora couldn’t say no.
All the evils of the world,
Their precipitous release placed squarely
On the broad shoulders of a broad
With the curiosity and deviousness of a man.
The bride gift contained
All the gifts to destroy the world.
All the groom had to do
Was contain the bride.
Sleeping at the wheel like most men
Allowed a woman who didn’t know her place
To serve as the instrument of gods’ judgment
Without her informed consent.
She a female
Couldn’t move fast enough
To close the lid
And prevent evil.
But the good —
Slower and smaller —
Still remained,
A hope for time to come.
And yet I wonder:
Are gender roles
A new pandora’s box
Opened by mankind?
Are they a fresh punishment
To contain curious, strong women
And promote weak men
Who are asleep at the wheel of their lives?
Gender questions once asked
Vaporize the box of narrow minds,
And all the evils of curiosity and creativity
Can’t suppress the hope for future egalitarianism.
