Crossword Puzzles

Crossword clues can be obscure.
Sometimes I get the word ACROSS
But of the DOWN word I’m not sure;
The letters simply don’t align.
I find myself, quite often, at a loss.

Vocabulary-building’s fine.
Some words I’ve never known till now
Don’t register until I line
The other words up. Still and all,
I’ll never see those words again, I vow!

So when I’m finally stumped, I call
Upon the answers in the back
To solve the mystery of all
Those words I couldn’t get at first —
The information that I sorely lack.

As hard as crosswords are, the worst
Dilemma is when life evolves
Like crossword puzzles. When you thirst
For answers, even if you line the facts
Up row by column, mystery never solves.

Life can be full of problem acts
And choices. Could we only look
To “answer pages,” and not tax
Our puzzled, troubled, darkened minds,
But find the right solutions in The Book?

Published in WestWard Quarterly, Spring 2025
©2025 Laudemont Press