Friday, October 19, 2012

Limericks

Sharing limericks by O.V. Michaelsen today. After I read these, I had the limerick rhythm going through my head all day. For some reason, I wanted to write one that rhymes "rhinoceros" and "phlebotomist," but it hasn't happened yet. Anyway, let's hear from O.V.:

RHYMESTORMING

These verses blew in like a storm—
Some serious, hardly the norm.
Though seldom poetic,
It’s all copacetic
To those who are fans of this form.

2.

A frustrated friend, Thomas Dow,
Lost his wits, having fits even now.
“Don’t lend me more yarn—
I can’t mend worth a darn,”
Said Tom, as he knitted his brow.

~~~~~~~~~

When oceans of words overwhelm,
With only yourself at the helm,
Try planning your flight
And traveling light
To the peace of a nonverbal realm.

~~~~~~~~~

A lyric that nobody hums,
The melody just never comes.
I'll never repeat
The difficult feat
Of composing a suite on the drums.

~~~~~~~~~

Though wiser, I’m short of a sage.
I’ve waited so long for this age.
Nostalgia’s no place
To chase or embrace.
Even NOW is a quickly-turned page.

~~~~~~~~~

Be single? I can’t take the lull of it.
Marriage? No more push and pull of it.
Although I’m not salable,
I’ll be available.
Love is my fuel, and I’m full of it.

~~~~~~~~~

THE PLURAL IN PERIL

The plural of die is called “dice,”
As more than one louse are called “lice.”
“Two times?” Why not “twice?”
“Three times” should be “thrice.”
And why aren’t two blouses called “blice?”

~~~~~~~~~

So tall, and gives birth while she’s standing,
We watch the free-fall 6-foot landing.
A mother giraffe
And her sky-diving calf
Give you pause when your life seems demanding.

~~~~~~~~~

All limericks copyright O.V. Michaelsen. Posted with permission of the poet.

Irene at Live Your Poem is our Poetry Friday host today.

8 comments:

  1. Just great and clever, Tabatha. I think I must work on some of these too. The rhythm will now roll around in my head too. I like the one about plurals especially!

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  2. Tabatha, it's so funny that you posted this. I noticed this week that "limerick" looks an awful lot like "lime rickey" and I challenged my poet friends to write lime rickey limericks. My favorite of these is "Thomas Dow" -- you know, as a knitter, I love that punch line.

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  3. Though wiser, I’m short of a sage.
    ......priceless! Thank you for sharing these Tabatha, and allowing a chuckle this long and tiring Friday!

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  4. Tabatha,
    One of the best limerick exercises I've ever seen was one by Steve Kowitt. He gave us limericks with the last line missing and we had to use the proper rhythm and finish the last line. So if you remove the last line, you might come up with something even funnier and the rhythm will really stick with you.
    I owe you a BIG debt. I tried making art to go with my poem today because of your encouragement. THANK YOU

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  5. Joy, so glad you are having fun with your art! :-) :-)

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  6. First David E., now you with the limericks! I left a sort of response to the one you dropped into his comments. Check it out!

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  7. though i want my response to be quick
    it appears that my brain is too think
    though i've cobbled away
    at these words for a day
    it's the best i can do in limerick

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  8. Fun. I especially like the knitted brow, the blice, and the sky-diving.

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