Periodically we have puzzling days with no apparent trigger, usually started by my oldest son—he’ll strip the second shelf in his closet of various sized boxes and begin in the corner of the kitchen where the linoleum is cool and flat. He dumps and dumps, twenty-five piecers, fifty, a hundred—all different sizes & superheroes, elmo, horses—any we’ve collected in eleven years

& it goes on for hours, until we’re all on our knees, finding holes & missing pieces, half the kitchen covered in windows of color, characters that had no intention of ever playing together on the same stage, joining hands & when we’re done, there is still missing pieces—ones lost over the years and that is ok, our compulsion is worn out & we leave them for a bit because there is so many lessons to be had in them–

puzzles, test our brain, our ability to see patterns, feel the ridges and find where one joins another…there are times we don’t know we’ll every understand & then one piece changes everything, starts a cascade of clarity

they come in all shapes & sized, each with their own frustrations & keys to completion…puzzles are even used to represent some of my favorite kids to work with, the autistic—it can be puzzling to figure out how to work with them at times & understand—

maybe you are starting to get the picture of what we are writing about today—and its wide open, what puzzles you? what puzzles do you enjoy? what picture are you still looking to complete? take it where you will…

for me–it symbolizes the journey we have been on for 2 years, here in the pub—the faces change pretty regularly as to who shows up, and even in who is standing behind the bar—we have seen poets go on to publish books & others leave the poetry world all together—and some that have been around from the beginning—

here soon we will celebrate our 2 year anniversary, another milestone, we will pass as poetry marches on and we along with it…so go write some poetry—bring it back, link it in & visit a the others that are on this journey with us—together we make a picture that no one piece can on their own…

if you are new here, here is how it works:

• write a poem about the prompt, today it is puzzles
• post it on your web page
• click on the Linky below and enter the direct URL to your poem
• there, you will also find others that are playing, visit them, tell them what you liked, comment on how they used the prompt, pick a line that moved you—let them know they were heard
• check back periodically, as people are joining through out the next 33 hours
• have fun

Look forward to seeing what you bring, and seeing you out on the trail. ~Brian