qarrtsiluni

don’t open the box don’t
open the box

someone walked down
out of the cracked vault of the sky
and what happened after that?

there was only one thing left.

they made her curious, she who
they made, who
was not a rib protected no one’s breath

curiosity killed the cat.

don’t open the box

who knew what would happen? she
didn’t
maybe nobody knew

eenie meenie minie moe
caught a tiger by the toe––

and what happened after that?

satisfaction brought it back.
a cat with two lives
or a life and a death
or there were two cats

what was left in the box?
that depends on who you ask.
hope,
dread,
one cat.
it’s a matter of interpretation.

eenie meenie minie moe
catch a tiger by the toe
she hollered, let them go

but something was left behind
in that box-that-was,
there was one thing left behind

it was expectation anticipation
the ability to look ahead and imagine
some change within the formless future

change for good or change for evil?

and what happened after?

ever after we lived with pestilence
with poison gases, with envy
with decimation
with grave certainty.

ever after in the box stayed
either hope
or horror,
the dead cat
or the live one.

eenie meenie minie moe.

by Zoe Polach

Download the MP3

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