a view from under the pew: the sudoku maze

boss i m swearing off

numbers for the rest of

my little mousy life i m

sure by now you ve heard

about my most recent escapade

when i happened to stumble

into a sudoku maze

it s the latest craze

says freddy flea to me

says who says me

says everybody says he

oh well if everybody

says it it must be says me

that s so says he and off

we went into the sudoku

numbers maze set right up

here in the bugtussle

town square

boss when i stepped onto

the first square a big

number 9 shouted

you don t belong there

whatchu doin in dat square

i dunno i just happened

to step here says me

this here maze is just

for numbers says he

by the way what number

do you be are ye a

number 1 you re kinda

big and puffy for one son

i m number 1 says a

big yellow skinny

character coming up

behind me boss i m

number 1 — ain t no

other one — i m

number 1

all right all right that s

fine says big number 9

then he leans over to me

and says he thinks he s the

only number around

here on this big

sudoku square

what do you do on this

square and why are

there empty spaces in

this grid says me

the object of the maze is

to fill in those blanks with

numbers — but not with just

any number — you can only

use one number once in a

nine-square grid and you

can only use a number

once in either a vertical

or horizontal row says he

sounds hard to me says me

aw naw says he it just

takes a bit of logic

don tcha see

not really says me

a number can only go in a

certain hole — or it will mess

up another grid or row — now

tell me you hairy soul — what

number are you — you look

like a fuzzy zero

i m not a zero — i m a

mouse says me

sudoku mazes don t have

zeroes says he so you ll

have to go little zero

i m not a zero says me

vociferously

where s a zero says a blue

number 2 and a royal purple 7

we ve never seen a zero

before can we see him

before he goes out the door

here he is says 9

no i m not says me a little

hot go away and let me play

it s okay little zero says

perfect number 7 we all have

a place in this world and in

god s heaven

well boss after i calmed down i

realized he was right i needed

to back off to see the light

in a sudoku maze every

number has its place and in

the church pew underworld

every mouse and bug has

its own matchbox space

god has created each of us

for a time such as this and

for a purpose that gives us

joy peace grace and bliss

amos