I often used couplets in my own work. Here are two examples, one long, one short, from "bugs, poems about creeping things" (Wordsong, 2009). "The termite doesn’t eat the way it should.

Spring Festival Couplet derived from Tao Fu, portraits of Door Gods drawn on peach wood, which were often hung outside the door all through the year to keep off evil spirits.

The little couplet which is on the plinth has grown into a full poem based on the stories I heard and from my own research in subsequent years. I am from the village of Derwengam (Oakford), attended ...