Hot off the presses from a headline in The New York Times this morning, here’s the first-est of first drafts. My apologies in advance if it gets out of hand.

“Trump Adopting Hands-Off Style Towards Military”
front page headline from NYTimes 20 March 2017

One the one (teeny) hand
that’s a good thing, and to be encouraged
and he should probably be (miniscule) hands-off with the arts
and science and insurance and diplomacy (already with the
no-hand-shaking) and secret military raids
and just governing in general
but such an approach presents new problems:
more (pocket-sized) hands to be caught in the cookie jar
more (teeny-tiny) hands to go rummaging in the till
idle (dwarfish) hands being the Devil’s playground
[or workshop or tools or playthings–pick your proverb]
thus getting one’s (diminutive) hands dirty

yes, (toy-like) hands-off tactics could be a good thing
but that might mean more shenanigans of the sleight-of-(shrimpy) hand variety
or just reveal that even with both (bantam) hands free,
the so-called top (puny) hand (in name only) can’t find his butt
but those wandering (teensy-weensy) hands might just end up
grabbing you by the you-know-what

and we could certainly bite those (itty-bitty) hands
who’ve already planned not to feed people
instead (Lilliputian) handing tax cuts on a plate at the Graft & Corruption buffet
to people who already have luxury in the palms of their own (little) hands

yes we certainly need these (deficient) hands off
nuclear footballs & diplomatic protocols &
constant Mar-a-Lago vacation golf balls

we need these (dinky) hands in (dinky) handcuffs
because things are already out of (insufficient) hand

On the other (tiny) hand
with four years of this
we can throw our hands up

OR

we can take matters into our own hands
with gloves off
and
raise a hand against

The Dead Man’s (meager) Hand

© David Siller – 2017

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For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author.

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