how pleasing 
to the ear 
“clacks” of blocks 

aligning 
as fingers 
deftly dance 

on checkered 
smooth plastic 
disco stage 

attempting 
Rubik’s Cube 
victory 

turn and twist 
against clock’s 
hushed ticking 

colorful 
tiles line up 
in neat stacks  

chaos forced 
to conform 
to order 

M. Benjamin Thorne is an Associate Professor of Modern European History at Wingate University. Possessed of a lifelong love of history and poetry, he is interested in exploring the synergy between the two. His poems appear or are forthcoming in Topical Poetry, The New Verse News, The Savannah Literary Journal, and The Main Street Rag. He lives and sometimes sleeps in Charlotte, NC.