Crosswords: A Poem

By: Maya Thomas

If you sit with him on a Sunday afternoon for crossword puzzles

Then you already know that sitting together, does not mean solving together

And if you sit there long enough and sip your soda loud enough

Then he’ll stare at the page longer and mutter under his breath louder

If he sighs with frustration and you offer to help

Then he says, “go on and get your own puzzle”

If you watch that old man at his kitchen table

Then you may catch his eyes light up slightly behind coke-bottle glasses

And if he hears the Bonanza theme from his old TV set 

Then he will drop everything to watch it with you, crosswords be damned