Crossword

Today on the bus I saw an old man
With pen and paper in hand he sits so subtle
Turning his thoughts into words that fill in the blanks
In a crossword puzzle, finding the answer looks so simple

Watching his hand flow from square to square
Filling in a letter that might fit there
He often writes half a word and moves to the next
His thoughts already found meaning of ‘underplexed’

I don’t see young people filling in these puzzles
Could it be that crosswords were made entirely for the elderly?
Is it simply too hard for a young mind to solve these linguistic puzzles?
Do they not know which president was J. F. Kennedy?

It takes a great wisdom to solve such a puzzle, sure
But still I wonder back to this man and his paper
Filling in the words, not even completely, how can he be so sure?
There he goes again,  I would’ve never guessed ‘H20 – G’ stands for as simple a word as ‘vapor’

By the time I arrived at my destination
The man solved two great puzzles,
Leaving me in a state of utter confusion
How can a mind so great not be solving much larger puzzles?

The man got off at the same stop as me
I asked him how he solved the crosswords
He said that I should let it be,
That with age comes a new sagacity, sagacity of words