Puzzle from Hell

have you ever worked on a jigsaw puzzle for so long
that your eyes start to blur
and all the colors start to melt?

you're absolutely sure that this piece
joins with that one
concave curve matching
convex
my green shading into
his blue.

so you try to lock the two together
jamming them fused
bending both out of shape
almost crying with frustration.

until you remember that this is a double-sided
mirror-reversed-90 degree turned-puzzle from hell
and they belong on opposite sides.

*****
M.A. Mohanraj
August 16, 1993

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