You can create a page excerpt and reuse it on other pages.
You can create a column layout and have two columns of icons with links.
But you can't put a column layout in a page excerpt.
Why? Why isn't any feature ever complete, so that it just works the same in all contexts? Why is every single feature exactly like some junior programmer had a bright idea and hacked some nonsense together that worked on that page in that context on that day and then chucked it into the production release?
I guess I answered my own question.
