First stanza of "Mark Twain's Burglars"

bumbled & played an unplanned song of candleabra maraca,

arias of stubbed toes, comic opera sobbing when they were caught

in the lines of the broadsheet the Hannibal news drew up when

its best son & curmudgeon managed a laugh at his thieves' expense,

the notice to any subsequent burglar a helpful how-to - "The china's beside

that thing by the entryway, chiffonier I think they call it,

pergola or something like that" - as though he had affably

dealt with the theft of his mind, he gave crooks green lights

& couldn't find the right words - "Please don't make noise as you leave,

& help yourself to a kitten -

Yours sincerely,

M. Twain",