Number Me Not

lillian

Somedaze
life is like a giant Sudoku.
I should fit in here.
So (how) do I?
So-do I do ok
with you?

I’m good with Jumbles.
I can fill in those kind of blanks.
______ and I are ______.
But I don’t do numbers.
Not like that. Not linear.
So not Sodoku.

Can we just
turn the puzzle page . . .
please?
Better yet,
let’s get a different book . . .
can we paint by numbers instead?

I‘m hosting OLN (Open Link Night) at dVerse today, the virtual pub for poets. Why not drop by and post any one poem of yours so we can all enjoy?  Photo from Pixabay.com

54 thoughts on “Number Me Not”

  1. adda June 13, 2019 / 11:51 am

    Wonderful!!!! I love your image, so colorful. I enjoy Sudoku puzzles. The poem is so playful, just like the games. ❤

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 12:26 pm

      LOVE seeing your reply here! I do love the jumbles…but Sudokus test me patience! I get three/quarters through and discover an error and then just put an X through the whole thing and turn to the cartoons! 🙂

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  2. Nathan AM Smith June 13, 2019 / 12:31 pm

    Amazing. And the picture pairs really well!

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 12:31 pm

      Thanks, Nathan! Glad you enjoyed.

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  3. whippetwisdom June 13, 2019 / 12:45 pm

    Wonderful word play Lillian and a jazzy rhythm too! Time permitting I’ll swing by later for OLN and look forward to seeing you there 🙂💖 xxx

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 3:32 pm

      You are so kind, Carol. Many thanks!

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  5. sanaarizvi June 13, 2019 / 3:12 pm

    This is such a gorgeously rendered poem, Lillian! ❤️ I love the wordplay and easy rhythm 🙂

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 3:32 pm

      Thank you! So appreciate your words here — and the emojis!

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 3:33 pm

      Oh most definitely! Painting outside the lines, writing outside the directions, wandering off the appointed road….we are kindred souls!

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  7. Glenn Buttkus June 13, 2019 / 3:13 pm

    Oh yes, quite mathmatically challenged my self; much better with linguistics, literature, and trivia please. My luddite status extends to mechanical aptitude as well. Thanks God for poetry.

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 3:35 pm

      I agree on everything, Glenn…..except the trivia. Have you ever played Trivial Pursuit? It is my humble opinion that it is a very evil game! Someone reads me a clue and they say, “oh you’ll know this one for sure…” and the pressure explodes in my brain! If I was on Jeopardy I’d just push the button for the hell of it and do a stand-up comic routine in the answers I’d give 🙂

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  8. msjadeli June 13, 2019 / 3:28 pm

    Life *is* like a variety pack of puzzles, so true. We’re all better at some than others. Enjoyable read, lillian, it’s not so isolating to think that we all struggle here and there with the puzzles.

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 3:38 pm

      Hah! Sometimes I look at the forms posed on our Thursday MTB night and think….another poetic sudoku! 🙂 That’s how I feel about iambic pentameter — which always stumps me. Very unlike Bjorn who can write iambic pentameter in his sleep 🙂 — and that’s meant as a compliment! I sit there counting on my fingers, looking up rhymes, trying to figure out how to fit in accented or unaccented syllables. The illustration I found is definitely like me….I like to get messy with paint, colors and words! 🙂

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      • msjadeli June 13, 2019 / 4:20 pm

        lol don’t get me started on the dreaded iambic pentameter!

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  9. scotthastiepoet June 13, 2019 / 3:35 pm

    Much like most other commenters, I’m crap at Sudoku too – for me it’s like trying to play squash, when you want to run around more as a tennis player!

    Otherwise, in terms of my usefulness to dVerse, I’m a bit prescriptive… I do make a point of regularly referring a lot of aspiring writers that come my way to dVerse – but my own rather strict and rather monastic daily routine of cumulative creative and spiritual practice doesn’t allow me much room for joining in more widely, I’m afraid… But at least I still manage to get to a few OLN’s a year, which I’ve long been grateful for… T’is a good thing you do!

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 3:40 pm

      Well….I laughed out loud at the first paragraph of your reply here! 🙂 Read it outloud to my husband and his comment was….yeah – it’s like trying to play Cricket instead of soccer! 🙂

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  11. Jane Dougherty June 13, 2019 / 3:54 pm

    This sounds like my idea of a nightmare, or slipping into madness. Puzzles of any kind make my palms start to sweat.

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 4:27 pm

      Much more creative — especially giving yourself permission to go outside the lines 🙂

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  13. rivrvlogr June 13, 2019 / 4:37 pm

    I do understand about puzzles building skills – to a point. When getting stuck, it’s probably best to throw in the towel before skills regress.

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 4:54 pm

      Hah! With sudoku….I simply mark a BIG x through the entire puzzle when I get to a point where I discover I’ve made an error — which is impossible to find and throws everything off. When writing poetry….I can change words around….when working crosswords I can fill in an across answer, and then go to the corresponding down squares and answer those, which then help the next crosses! 🙂
      I’m just a letters kind of gal….but I ALWAYS loved doing fingerpaints with my kids and grandkids 🙂

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  14. kanzensakura June 13, 2019 / 4:43 pm

    What a wonderful poem with a wonderful poem. I can visualize you tapdancing in front of a canvas with brushes of paint to spash.

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 4:54 pm

      Oh yes………tap dancing with a paintbrush in hand sounds like a very very fun thing to do! 🙂

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  16. skyraftwanderer June 13, 2019 / 6:44 pm

    I’m bad at Sudoku. I’m also bad at crosswords.

    I do like this poem though. Like it a whole lot. Nice work with this.

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 7:35 pm

      Glad you enjoyed the poem. As I always say, “we all have different gifts.” And believe me, one of mine is NOT sudoku! 🙂

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  17. rothpoetry June 13, 2019 / 7:50 pm

    I am with you on this one! Numbers get lost in the shuffles of the mind!

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  18. Ali Grimshaw June 13, 2019 / 9:51 pm

    Lillian, I really enjoyed the creativity of this one. I can also relate to the sentiment. I am not a numbers person either. Why can’t passwords be shapes and colors instead?

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    • lillian June 13, 2019 / 10:21 pm

      Hah! Actually most of my passwords have more letters than numbers! 🙂

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    • lillian June 14, 2019 / 9:52 am

      Hah…..and given my poem and all the replies….I tried the sudoku this AM (and Friday’s has progressed in difficulty from Monday) and OH THE WONDER! For the first time in a LONG LONG time, I filled it all in correctly! Must have been the extra cup of coffee!

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      • larry trasciatti June 14, 2019 / 11:13 am

        Congratulations. Although I’ve always stunk at math, that’s one math thing even I can do somehow~

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  20. Beverly Crawford June 14, 2019 / 3:44 am

    I share your impatience with Soduko! I enjoyed your poem.

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    • lillian June 14, 2019 / 9:53 am

      Glad you enjoyed, Beverly. Sometimes I just look at the empty blanks and turn the page in the newspaper to the crossword! 🙂

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  21. Laura Bloomsbury June 14, 2019 / 5:42 am

    Loved this quirky take on puzzles. ‘Somedaze’ sums it all up – no you are definitely not a number, more a wordsmith.

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    • lillian June 14, 2019 / 9:54 am

      Yay Laura! Thank you! You’re the only one to comment on the “somedaze”…..:)
      Yep….some days are completely like a Sudoku and the hours just don’t fit together right! And some days, nor do the interactions or the to-dos etc etc etc. We’ve all had those daze….even if we do or don’t like sudoku! 🙂

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  22. sdtp33 June 14, 2019 / 1:38 pm

    Very clever, Lillian, I like the staggered rhythm and the word play. JIM

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    • lillian June 16, 2019 / 2:48 pm

      Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed!

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  23. Jeff June 14, 2019 / 5:23 pm

    When life turns especially challenging, set the trouble aside, move ahead. Said so well in your poem. Delightfully done.
    Cheers!

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  24. robtkistner June 14, 2019 / 7:46 pm

    I like this Lillian. It is difficult to put forth a pure genuine face. It is unsettling to be fully exposed.

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    • lillian June 16, 2019 / 2:49 pm

      Yep….vulnerability. I think that’s what’s so amazing about finding a life partner with unconditional love, right? We can be vulnerable.

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  25. memadtwo June 15, 2019 / 7:54 pm

    There are definitely days when things don’t add up, no matter where you start. (K)

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