Ode to my Daily Newspaper

i.m. Marjorie

You crown my day of orderly routine

when you arrive(I hear you plop!)

at breakfast time each day.

Toast and marmalade, caffeine.

I wipe my fingers to open

your pages: they are pristine

in print and scent.

Glance at the headlines of the news,

read correspondence, readers’ views

and rage.

Then skip investments and

so-called sport.

Turn at last

to your end page where your crossword’s cast

with inviting clues that will resolve

problems.

If only

those you have reported

could be resolved so comfortably,

so easily sorted

as the problems you present here

contained in a square.

As I ensconce myself

in this armchair.

I am retired!