for centuries
the box was guarded
its gilded surface
glowed like gold
in the sunlight
but blackened
when night grasped
the nation
no one knew
its true content
although historians
had contrived
detailed descriptions
of
what
was inside
based upon
archaeological remains
but
in reality
those details
were more myth
than
anything
indeed
one had
to
just
believe
what had been written
and
published
in children’s
indoctrination books
those
who challenged
the faith
were shunned
and
forced to live
within
the narrowest confines
of
the city
or
caged within prisons
to
protect
society
now
one day
after the box
had been dropped
a few observant
people
saw through
the cracks
that
the box
was
empty