Coffee Table Perplexity

Such lovely snippets of words
Scattered about as a jigsaw puzzle
The puzzle table lies in mess
Waiting to be assembled together

First I start on the outside
Fitting edges to the ledges
Then I look for repetitive colors
Suiting the pastel of patterns

As I get deeper
The puzzle gets simpler
Flowing piece after piece
Simultaneously from the brain

Pressed against the table's grain
The puzzle comes closer to finished
What started as vague
Is taking a brand-new finish

I take a second look
The pieces are all there
Nook by nook
But something avails

Almost crooked
But not quite
The pieces are there
Square by square

I take a step back
Gaze a moment
For further evaluation,
A picture there, but no reason

Only empty cardboard pieces
Pressed against a wooden table
Showing an old bridge
Strong and able

However empty,
Cable by cable,
I take a momentary lapse of breath
And realize what's left

I place myself there,
Step by step,
In no time I find myself across
What the puzzle's picture didn't show
Was the other side of the bridge, pleasant and mellow

What took hours to piece together
Only took moments to find a meaning
What if life were so easy