The New Year–2026

We open the puzzle box to check if this is an enigma.

Will we enjoy putting  the pieces together;

Or will we wish we had not started?

The box, besides the puzzle pieces, contains a picture;

A picture that should give us good directions, and

Make a difficult puzzle a straightforward task.

We work at the border first–we want to know 

The parameters within which to work.

Confidently, we work on the rest of the puzzle;

Looking at the picture as we forge ahead,

Confident that, if we follow the map 

We will accomplish the expected result.

As we move along, we begin to wonder,

What is happening, and why so many

Unexpected pieces that do not seem to fit!

Frustration sets in–we do not find any 

Matching pieces, but find a lot of others.

This really is a perplexity!

We realize that the picture shown,

Although revealing parts that are accurate,

Does not show us what we had visualized.

We stop for a period of peace and reflection.

What a conundrum;We want to finish the puzzle,

But the result will be different than expected.

This brings me to 2026.

How will the imagined picture develop,

And how different will the year end be?