2

But he has the power, he packs the boxes
he chooses their outfits (on the days that they're clothed)
    calls in the laddies
    sends them all off
    to take in the traitors
they haven’t a chance, it’s all preordained.

3

And what did they think as they opened the boxes
were they caught in the horror
    that death had escaped
    had flowed from inside
    how could they know
what'd been left jammed under the lid?

4

Where are their voices to shout out their secrets?

We were the fall guys in a family feud. They made us promises of glory and power, We didn’t know death would come too. We took the blame, they had it all planned. Listen to us. You’ll bear the brunt of their failure and hubris.’

5

But those voices were silent, couldn't be painted
they're seen and not heard
    with muse after muse
    peeking in boxes
    clothes on clothes off
paid by the hour to keep up the silence.

Credits

Pandora by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1871, private collection, model: Jane Morris
Prometheus, Mercury and Pandora by Josef Abel, 1814, Dorotheum, Vienna, model: unknown
The Vase of Pandora by Pietro della Vecchia, between 1640-1673, Pinacoteca Egidio Martini, Venice, model: unknown
Pandora II by Jules Joseph Lefebrvre, 1872, Museo de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, model: unknown
Pandora by Alexandre Cabenel Walters, 1873, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, model: Christina Nilsson
Pandora by Adolphe Bougeureau, 1890, last sold 2012, model: unknown

All images in the public domain

courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

find more Pandoras
search: Pandora Paintings