A puzzle on the table
By the fireplace.
The day is spent warm
Filling empty space.
Pieces go here, pieces
Go there; it is no race.

A boy takes his seat
In a plaid arm chair.
Winter whispers in his ear
Place the puzzle piece there, yes there.
He fills the picture with his time
Searching for pieces with a sharp, sharp stare.

A knock on the door, “Hello!”
A girl he greets in grinning gusto
She joins him at the puzzle. Two pieces
Put together, the flame brightly aglow
The puzzle finished, a kiss goodbye
His past out the chimney like smoke goes

Smoke that billows and twist and moves
He disappeared in a magician’s trick
Tie pin lost on may 15th. New pieces are
Found to fill holes not there before. He’s Sick.
Time moves on like a train, with much more
pain. A candle burns down, down its wick.

A late landing in Georgia
A late pickup in Mesa
He learned that to everyone
He was
He, the leftover puzzle piece
that didn’t quite fit.