Short Tenon Poems

I see no evil in the
 Mortise and tenon and in the thin 
Red line Mao traced in a
 Thousand or more 
Platitudes still
Posing deftly in old 
Wuhan. 

 Just a while ago I did glimpse a 
Twinkle in the
 Delicate curl of a child’s 
Lip and in the
Tender.

 Millions of centimeters away the French, in 
Perfect nonchalance, 
Pause, as stock markets
 Nip and tuck to 
Languid sips of cool cool 
Wine.

-Jeff Troyer 
April 2020...

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Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

The little girl sat on the chair.
The little girl said a prayer.
All the church canons made no difference
To the predicament she was now in.

The bell hung by its strong cannon.
The bell knelled for lost key tenon.
All the righteous and all the judges’ men
Witnessed her tumble down the steep court stairs.
...

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