The lid on an old jar from the cupboard
Has rusted or stuck shut.
Perhaps my hand doesn't reach out quite far
Enough to the edges
Of this jar that when I picked it up I
Noticed the jar covered
Ahole in a wood shelf in the cupboard.
The label wrapping around the jar, cracked
Away under my hand now
Holding the jar pulled off the shelf and placed
On the counter. So a
Firm grip with one hand, and twisting the other
Has been fruitless and has
Caused the label to disintegrate so
I'm placing the jar under my arm to
Open the container
If only I could see past the black I
Wouldn't need to see it.
You see, the glass is black and I can't see
Inside. Maybe if it wasn't the last
Thing left besides a few
Murky shades drying on dusty curtain
Rods on the first floor I
Could throw the jar in a trash can, or box
Something to hide the jar
In with other things you find in a house.
But there is nothing in this house except
The jar under my arm
That I can't open or see into but
Know something is inside
I could hear something when I took it down
From the wood shelf and if
Twisting under my arm doesn't help I'll
Have to break it open
With a hammer. It's the only real choice.
The last curiosity
In this house will be gone and I will have
Smashed it with a hammer.
But I don't have a hammer so I put
The jar over the hole
On the wood shelf in the cupboard where I
Found the jar with the lid
That wouldn't open and holds something I'll
Never know of because this jar is black
And I can't see inside.