By Lydia Teh

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle
Each puzzle with a unique picture to call its own
Some are large, some small
Some are multi-hued, some monochrome
Some have complex patterns, some simple designs
Each with its own story to tell

At the tail-end of twenty-nineteen
IT made its sinister entrance
Though naked to the invisible eye
IT is lethal:
IT swallows up millions of puzzles
IT scoffs down some pieces
IT shreds some, smears some

No puzzle is spared by IT
Big or small
Colourful or plain
Complex or simple
Every puzzle is changed by IT

For the jigsaw puzzles to be completed beautifully
The missing pieces must be replaced
The broken mended
The dirty cleaned
Time it will take
Hard work
Teamwork

And help from the puzzle maker.

Help from the Puzzle Maker:

Psalms 102:1-17

Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And let my cry come to You.
Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.

For my days are consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth.
My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.
Because of the sound of my groaning
My bones cling to my ^[b]skin.
I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I am like an owl of the desert.

I lie awake,
And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.

My enemies reproach me all day long;
Those who deride me swear an oath against me.
For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mingled my drink with weeping,
Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
My days are like a shadow that lengthens,

And I wither away like grass.

But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.

So the nations shall fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
For the Lord shall build up Zion;

He shall appear in His glory.
He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer.