Revolutionary War​-era nesting dolls

cupped within

a city within a city within a city

splintered wood in the tiniest doll

unseen till it cracks the doll around it

which cracks the doll around it

which cracks the doll around it

and so on and on and on

till the walls that house this institution

are blistered paint and shattered glass

doll eyes painted open

to wake the chin​-lifted valor

and push back a tide of arrogance

entitlement and misinformed mobs

breech and slither in between the

fit locks of nested bellies

a doll of educated wood

gathering sides to work for children

infiltrated by trumpeters

hot breath blasting their horns

eating away at the dolls​’ foundation

they are hungry termites

eyeing the next cup

•••

By Jeni Alden St. Laurent

Nashua

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