In keeping with the mysterious quality of the number 13, today I challenge you to write a riddle poem. This poem should describe something without ever naming it. Perhaps each line could be a different metaphor for the same object? Maybe the title of the poem can be the “answer” to the riddle. The result could be a bit like our Day One poems of negation, but the lines don’t need to be expressed in negatives.

So it’s another riddle poem.  I decided not to make the title the precise answer!

Companion

You are always there
growing with me,
increasing each year:
I can’t stop you.

Once I liked you,
so proud of you that
I measured you in halves
or even quarters.

Now I hesitate, ignore how
you creep up behind me
with your carpe diem
tapping on my shoulder.

Oh, but every ten years I’m
more open about you:
we bond in champagne moments
when a milestone ends in zero.

You give wine mellowness,
and cheese distinction:
if you make three digits
I’ll smile, respect you.