The jigsaw puzzle had just been completed, all one thousand pieces of it, a few of the sections the paint worn thin from multiple uses and now in full display after many days, and many hands working to fit all the pieces together. This puzzle would remain on the table for a few days while everyone had a chance to appreciate the effort of those who put it all together, then it would be taken apart in a hurried manner and placed back into its box before the process would start all over again with a new one. In the meantime, maybe a few of those puzzle solvers would attempt solving some of earth’s other mysteries before another puzzle was begun, for I was in a maze, hopelessly lost, walking around, dazed, where there was still hope that one of those who participated before could help me find my way out. — DUANE ANDERSON
Duane Anderson currently lives in La Vista, Nebraska. He has had poems published in Fine Lines, Cholla Needles, Tipton Poetry Journal, and several other publications. He is the author of ‘On the Corner of Walk and Don’t Walk,’ and ‘The Blood Drives: One Pint Down,’ and ‘Conquer the Mountains.’