In a crossword puzzle today:
“It might send you to the moon”
Horizontal. Four letters.
So obvious. I wrote in
LOVE
+ + + + +
But LOVE is thwarted by insensitive vertical clues
That have nothing to do with love:
“Some shortcuts for ships” CANALS
“Body position in yoga” ASANA
“Great ___ National Park” BASIN
“Brand of figure-shaping underwear” SPANX
+ + + + +
For a flight to the moon,
The crossword’s answer
Is pretty pedestrian. (Especially after
Spanx and asana which, come to think of it,
May have something to do with love.)
Perhaps songwriters and poets should create
Our nation’s crossword puzzle clues.
+ + + + +
Love, of course, is all you need.
Love will send you to the moon.
But romantic metaphors, apparently,
Have no place in a Wednesday
New York Times Crossword Puzzle.
+ + + + +
Although, the clue for 57 down,
“Middle of many metaphors,”
Suggests somebody knows something
About figures of speech.
If not love.
+ + + + +
That answer, to 57 down, sadly,
Is not LOVE, either.
It is only three letters: ISA
Really, only two words, “IS A”
+ + + + +
ISA, as in …
He is a car wreck waiting to happen.
Her love is a one-way trip to the moon.
He is a puddle of mush when she walks into the room.
Their love is a three-ring circus.
+ + + + +
ISA is an “ugh …”
(Also three letters, but not an answer.)
I don’t want and ugh. I want a hug.
I want better. I want more.
I want LOVE to send us to the moon.
Even in a Wednesday crossword puzzle.
+ + + + +
But if LOVE doesn’t, or can’t,
Send us to the moon
Because things get in the way, like,
Canals, yoga, tight underwear and national parks
What will?
+ + + + +
A very important question
These days:
What sends you to the moon?
What keeps you from taking a trip to the moon?
Use as many letters and metaphors as you wish.
