At close to 4 a.m., the neighbor’s party subsides

the snake of noise uncoils, me just back

from visiting my bedridden

and quite possibly dying father

 

and as my wife tries to sleep

I give up and sigh myself

to the living room and work

on the New York Times crossword

 

that’s been haunting me all day

and by God somehow I manage

to get all the answers and I think

I’ve got them right but if I don’t

 

at least all the spaces are filled in

and that counts for something,

don’t you think, at 4 in the morning

anything that fills in the spaces

 

 

should count for something.

 

 

 

 

Harry Calhoun’s articles, literary essays, book reviews and poems have been published in magazines including Writer’s Digest and The National Enquirer. He has had recent publications in Chiron Review, SNReview, Lo-Fidelity, Abandoned Towers, Dante’s Heart, Nefarious Ballerina,Yippee!, Neonbeam, Monongahela Review, LiteraryMary and Word Catalyst, for whom he writes a monthly column. He also has poetry forthcoming in Big Pulp, The Dead Mule, &c, A Common Thread, Pocket Change, Buk Scene and others.