Puzzled

Calliope is a session in Journalism where we gather to write and share pieces based on the selected topic! This week’s theme is Puzzled…?

Ri-yen 

Things confused me 

They worked in mysterious ways that I never knew 

I questioned it in a desperate attempt 

To finally learn something new 

It was fun at first 

Willingly embraced 

How a little child 

Had more behind her adorable face 

  

My sentences ended 

With higher intonations 

Question after question 

Without hesitation 

Why is the sky blue? 

  

Why do birds fly? 

How do we live and 

how do we die? 

  

I learned to learn 

And learned to ask 

And when school started 

I was up for the task 

  

My teachers were kind 

Friendly and rule-abiding 

And the hourly lessons 

Were rarely filled with chiding 

  

I raised my hand 

But was told to wait 

I tried to ask questions 

But the teaching ended too late 

  

New topics, new lessons 

New homework, new questions 

  

I replied to my homework 

Answered my math equations 

Explained scientific phenomena 

And made newfound revelations 

  

I became a better student 

Not as “talkative” or “difficult” as I used to be 

I sat in class and listened 

Never questioning past a certain degree 

  

The syllabus was all that mattered 

The questions I answered were ones I should have asked 

And though I still get puzzled 

The days of me asking were in the past 

I stand on the well-structured island of my education 

And ignore the sea of puzzles beyond me 

That was not for me to explore 

And a good student I had to be.  

Eleos

糊涂 

Seven days ago the children were wailing for Mum, 

Happily squabbling over the phone, just to talk to you 

Eating the hasty McDonalds’ takeaway meal 

Something usually uncondoned in our household. 

Six days ago the children came home from school 

Expectantly waiting at the table for their 

Afternoon snacks and drinks, only to find 

The house empty, themselves left alone. 

Five days ago the children sat down for dinner 

Only to wait another 45 minutes, for me to 

Finish boiling the water, struggling to work the stove, 

Thinking where the frozen dumplings were, only to find chicken feet. 

Four days ago the children waited at school 

For a whole extra hour, wondering if I would come 

To bring them to tuition like you did 

Only to find I was at the office, in a meeting, oblivious to their calls. 

Three days ago the children wanted to go to the park 

And they wanted to bring their bicycles, scooters, and roller blades 

So I struggled with their knee guards and helmets for 30 minutes 

And went downstairs, only to my confusion to where the park was. 

Two days ago the children wanted to go shopping 

And I brought them to IMM, trailing behind them 

Buying them the things you never would have 

How was I to know your budget? 

Yesterday the children went back to school 

Waking me at 6 o’clock, asking me to send them 

Leaving the house haphazardly at 6:30 

Barely reaching the drop-off on time in the car, confused with directions. 

Today the children are settled at school, 

The house is quiet and inactive 

And I settle back into my office chair 

Staring at your face, relaxing with a can of beer 

The children are anxiously awaiting your arrival. 

Renee 

Puzzling 

I left them right – 

There. 

Behind that coffee cup 

In front of the toaster 

They was there 

When I last saw them. 

This morning 

My eyes barely open 

Tired from the party 

Lights dazzlings 

Music deafening 

Maybe I dropped them? 

No, I saw them 

In the morning, like I said 

And I’m pretty sure I did 

I was on the phone with Jenny 

She said she was hungover 

I didn’t have a headache, 

But a different kind of ache -  

The bursting of a balloon 

After the party 

Puzzling, where are they? 

My dad will be upset 

If he finds out I’ve lost them 

He gave them to me as the knife sliced the cake 

The layered cake of years of life 

With the icing on top – my underwhelming eighteen 

What’s next?  

If only I could find those keys 

Get into the car 

Drive onwards into the sunset 

Like a happily ever after 

Puzzling, I’ll have to keep looking. 

Zachary 

After a gruelling journey through the Hayseed Swamps, the Misty Mountains, and the Divide itself, I’d finally found myself in a dungeon holding great treasure. However, the wizard guarding it had trapped me behind three great puzzles. It appeared I would have to solve all of them to escape with my life, much less the treasure. But I was determined, for I knew in my heart no barrier could hold me long. 

The first puzzle was simple. A 3x3x3 cube in the middle of the room told me all I needed to know. With my years of honed practice in solving problems specifically pertaining to 3x3x3 cubes, not to mention the hundreds of hours I had spent practicing for such tasks, I got all the colours to their respective sides in a record 28.4 seconds. 

The second puzzle seemed harder, but no matter. I would conquer it nonetheless. I needed to search through the pictures of a camera for clues to get a 4-number password. That would then unlock a door, behind which was a map with labelled cities. That would then provide me with the pieces to complete an electrical circuit and unlock a door. While harder (mostly due to the tedium of searching through the camera, and how its battery ran out halfway and one of the wizard’s attendants had to replace it, apologising profusely the whole time), I eventually cracked it before the strange-looking analogue clock on the wall with its strange red bars hit 0:00:00. 

At the third and final puzzle, the first thing I noticed was a barrier separating the wizard and myself. It was a thin, invisible barrier, clearly made of magic. “So,” he muttered, “you were able to break the invincible Cube of Rubik’s and crack the legendary Room of much Escaping. However, I can guarantee that you’ll never make it past this last puzzle. And on the impossibility you do, I’ll just… blast you with my magic,” 

“What’s the point?” I asked, tired and exasperated. “What’s the point of all these endless, strange puzzles that feel like they’re from another world? If you could always blast me with your magic and kill me, why not do that from the beginning?” 

“Honestly, I don’t know. There’s just been some… invisible force guiding me to trap people and imprison them behind puzzles. It’s like an overused trope. Not sure about it. Anyway, good luck breaking this puzzle. You’ll need it,” A board appeared from the ground, and on it was the wizard’s impossible puzzle. 

I studied it carefully. ‘x + 1 = x. Solve for x.’ “Hey!” I yelled after the retreating wizard. “This is impossible! There’s no way to solve this! This isn’t fair! The puzzles were supposed to make our fight fair! You can’t do this!” 

“Why not, adventurer? I never said the puzzles had to be solvable. Not even the gods can help you now. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your starved corpse gets a proper burial. Goodbye,” the wizard said, before retreating back into his dungeon. 

There I knew I was trapped. I could go neither forward nor backward, and my own greed and folly had sealed me in as a satirical example for others to be wary of. I know now that soon, my body will decay and my spirit will fade out… all because of one puzzle. 

Cheng Jie 

Feelings interlace, 

Joy and sorrow in one space. 

I search through puzzles. 

Fear, a hanging thread, 

Whispers in the shadows spread. 

Where shall I find light? 

Disgust, a foul tinge, 

Flavours moments on the fringe. 

Bitterness drowns me. 

Anger, a fierce roar, 

Burns bridges, with risks in store. 

Cool forgiveness looms. 

On canvas of time, 

Feelings paint a rhythmic rhyme. 

Mosaics unfold. 

Le En 

murky  

my head spins  

blurry surroundings  

what happened  

  

unfamiliar  

alone, in a gloomy grey room  

machines beeping, where am i  

  

confused  

an aged woman rushes in  

clutches me, crying  

who is she  

  

puzzled  

why is she crying  

what happened