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 ncient
vestige, out of use, needless subject of abuse.
Ne'er Shelley, Byron, Keats or Noyes, would rhyme it
And so us boys in youthful days when scaling trees
Could wrap it round our damaged knees.
To carry one was proper breeding,
For some it simply stopped the bleeding.
When we in childhood games surrendered
This small white square was often tendered.
For it at school we were inspected,
proper hygiene was expected.
For cracking nuts it came in handy,
a parachute or holding candy.
Movies prop for waxing tragic,
prestidigitator's magic.
But wait! Whose that standing by the piano?
Clutching what? It's Luciano.
Satchmo, mopping with a grin,
Isaac tucks it neath his chin.
There's fifty thousand in the ballpark
To cheer their team, they wave their hallmark.
Hallmark! Make a greeting hanky
“Got a cold? Feeling cranky?”
This lowly item once prolific
Now likened to some hieroglyphic.
Cotton, silk or even linen
It deserves a new beginnin'.
Spreading germs is now of issue
Hence the onset of the tissue.
Ogden Nash forgive his mischief
Hail to thee, O handkerchief!
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