One off

What Life Is Like

Life is like old

sliding tile puzzles

Twenty-five

Four-sided

Plastic tiles

Slippery tongue

And groove

Design corralled

Square inside trays

In particular ways

On assembly lines

Cannibalized

To turn out

In turn:

Magnetic

 Black

  And

   White

     Scottie

      Dogs

       Rubik

        Cubes

         Light

          Sabers

           Pagers

            Nesting

              Cups

               Smart

                Fobs

And those

Japanese gizmos

Always in the throes

Of dying despite

The best efforts

Of their owners

Bored youngsters

Unlucky enough

To come

Of age after

The heyday of

Sliding tile puzzles

When all was

Up or down

Back or forth

Side to side

Left or right

When diagonals

Were nowhere

To be found

Except vertiginously

On

The Etch-A-Sketches

Of budding

 Felons

  Politico’s 

    Tech CEO’s

      Life Coaches

And people

You may know

Quite well

Victims

Of life’s

Happy

And not so

Happy

Accidents.