FALSE DREAMS

Pandora had a curious box Its contents were a mystery She felt compelled to pry its locks Now the rest is History Always, Cat

like the comparison to cheap paper lanterns! original and descriptive... liz

I read up on that myth and it is really interesting how it has evolved. Originally it was thought to have hope contained within the chest or jar as matriarchal societies change to patriarchal it evolved into evil contained within. The evil within a woman, the temptress, the jezebel. So the box became something to be feared instead of containing the hope for man. Great story. Is it about the evolution of a relationship, entering with high dreams and the reality is different? Interesting poem I'll have to come back to it.

The imagery in the second stanza really resonates with me. The cruelty of lies, big and small, exacts a terrible price eventually. Good stuff B! Best Mike

like someone else said, the image of the paper lanterns is dead on and very original, I liked that, too. Also, I love the first stanza: False dreams cling under every cover - unshaken, unaired smothering the innocence of lovers. "unshaken, unaired" evokes quite an image. Here's the one thing I thought a little clumsy: false promises feed off [false] pretences bleed our docile defences – too naive to expose them Liars! The repetition of "false" might be left out here, I think. Apart from that, I would have loved to have another image here. Oh, and please do throw in another comma: our fantasies, our foibles(,) our Falsehood at play - I'll be looking forward to your revisions on this very promising piece. Yours, ~Nina

In this comment I address the values behind the poem rather than the words. I grew up on Cary Grant romances and Walt Disney endings, all of which was acting well beyond the real. Although the times have changed, I think our culture is the misleading party - which is to say the collective pining paints its aspirations into music, movies, romantic literature and classrooms. There is still a ruckus over sex education such that it has to be dumbed down. So most parties, including me, entered coupledom with really very little preparation. Most relationships are not life long. I have written elsewhere, the percentage of marriages which do not end in death is about 50% in the U.S. but fewer and fewer couples are opting for marriage (in fact, a minority now). All other relationships have lesser likelihood of lasting a lifetime. Most people have serial relationships, inside of marriage and outside of marriage. Divorce in the Jewish tradition is called a "get". It is determined by the male. Christianity made divorce (or annulment) exceptional. In Canada, until 1968, it required an Act of Parliament to get divorced. That puritanical approach has been thrown overboard. Now, you need no reason for divorce beyond incompatibility merely declared. So, one would think that romantic education might come from experience. But that is not true either. More than 65% of second marriages fail. I speculate that part of this lack of progress from experience is due to the huge chip on our shoulders in the wake of failed romances. We internalize a sense of failure and become excessively angry with who we have left. We play in that anger like making finger paintings, except the paintings seem never to leave our heads. And the reasons for divorce, money, sex and fidelity, are not made so much easier in one income households where the individual parties seek new partnerships. Quite the reverse. The best indicators of marital outcome are points of convergence: interests, experiences, culture, values and habits. It is an argument for a more monolithic society. Despite the suggestions from TV shows, lawyers rarely accuse anyone of lying. They are aware that there are many reasons for divergences other than the intention to mislead. Especially in family matters. Where a couple’s interests, experiences, culture, values and habits diverge there will be conflict, whether or not there are also lies. So if we are to focus our attention on the most material, it is with interests, experiences, culture, values and habits. Unless, of course, there is a need for inflation. Brian

Love this piece but sorry I can't say much as earlier commentators have taken the wind out of the sails

Nothing is false and nothing is true. As long as we beLIEve it to be. And there be the rub, our beLIEfs. The lie is always deep within. However, life is a journey to expose our true selves, after so many layers of meaning, we are just humans, being... Be careful you may have recognized the elephant in the room. Smile, Anna