Games

Most days you could solve the Spelling Bee
just by looking at the 7-letter honeycomb pattern.
Those pangrams were child’s play,
and finding the other words bored you.

If the Mini took more than 30 seconds,
you cursed a blue streak twice as long.
Even for the Saturday puzzle.
25 was okay, 20 the challenge,
and 15 a mental high-five victory.
10, now 10 was rare, but
never deemed impossible.
And when you hit it from time to time,
you said it must be like
the adrenaline rush
of being saved at the last second
from death in the electric chair.

The crossword we did together.
Today’s was easy, I see you smiling
at your laptop screen.
Picking up the phone to call, I remember
how you are, put it down, adjust
the glasses on my nose.

Examining my pencil nub,
the worn eraser and blunted tip,
I run an index finger
back and forth
over the newspaper fold,
and pat the page over
to smooth it down.