Wednesday, November 12, 2008

There once was a gal from...

Since it's Writing Wednesday, let's have some fun with limericks! Don't be shy, it's easy. A standard limerick has 5 lines with an aabba rhyme scheme. Legend has it that this poetry form sprung up in a wee Irish place by the same name, and became a popular form of drinking poetry.

Think of that old Hickory Dickory Dock nursery rhyme and you're halfway there. We may even vote on our favorite after it's all said and done.

Here's mine:

Limericks take hold in your noggin
Worse than set loose graveyard goblins.
They howl and they moan,
Get down in the bone,
Your brain pipes always a’cloggin’.


And if you're not feeling a bit creative today, here's a cheat for ya. It's a Limerick generator ---> http://www.jjjwebdevelopment.com/306sites/limgen/

31 comments:

Jenni James said...

Once was a sweet girl from England
Who thought she'd write up the Kingdom
She wrote and she wrote
Til'er brain started to smoke
Without her kids gettin' feedin!

Since her kids were never once fed,
Hubby stepped on tiptoes in dread,
Positive that he
Would release the spree
That'd give him a thunk on the head!

Erm... and NO I'm not having issues, so don't ask! LOL!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

This morning my husband and I have a meeting
We'll be offered a friendly greeting and seating
By our longtime financial planner
In his usual cordial manner
To hear that our retirement fund has taken a beating!

(Note: I had to delete the first one because, despite your clear guidelines, I managed to mess up the rhyme scheme!)

Kathryn Magendie said...

Um, haw!, Here is my "generated lymeric" -

Did you see the big flea that's on Wolf
Bite my hand and my toe and my Heart?
It's all over the Paw,
In my hair, on my Eye.
Now I see that the flea is on Betty Boop.

Terri Tiffany said...

There once was a writer named Terri
Who lived in the deep down south
She loved to sit on her porch
Eating cookies and cream
Until she could no longer open her mouth.

OK-- This is awful but what do you expect before breakfast?

Angie Ledbetter said...

LOL! These are so much fun! (But warning...ADDICTIVE!)

I'll answer and come visit your bloggies when I get back from Poetry class this morning. :)

Anonymous said...

I live in the Deep South like Terri
My mom was a writer named Mary
She taught me the skill
Patience, perseverance and will
Now if I can only learn how to query

Melissa Amateis said...

*deep breath*

Ok. Here goes.

I am a cube dweller
but don't even have a cute feller'
to look at while I waste away
typing drivel throughout the day
trying to write a bestseller.

*groan* Ha! That was fun. :-)

~j said...

there once was a lurker named Jill
who visits from way over that hill
She stopped for a read and a smile
ended up staying quite a long while
and has much paperwork to do still

=D

Carrie Wilson Link said...

Thanks for another fun way for me to distract myself! LOL, I'm lovin' reading all your creative commenters limericks!

Michelle H. said...

I'll try my hand at it.

There once was a guy named Tom,
Who thought his body was "Da Bomb."
With me, he wanted to spend the night.
We got into a gigantic fistfight,
And he got a broken nose and less aplomb.

Sorry. This was bad.

WendyCinNYC said...

I thought the word "Nantucket" had to be worked in somehow.

Wait...um...nevermind.

Kathryn Magendie said...

HAwww! :-) LAUGHING

Angie Ledbetter said...

Bravo, Ang!!! Love this.

And to you, too, Melissa! hehe

Jill, I could title yours, Bloggers Limerick. :)

Come on, Carrie, crank one out! Don't make me call you a chicken. *Bok bok*

Angie Ledbetter said...

mlh, you made me laugh. These are way more fabulous than I thought they'd be!

Kathryn, Nita Lou, Terri and giddy, you deserve a round of applause too! *clap clap clap*

Wendy -- L.O.L. Not necessary to use that particular location, but they really can be on the shady/bawdy side!

Suldog said...

My name is Jim - I'm from Boston,
My writing you'll sometimes get lost in,
You see, I use words,
In bunches and herds,
Reading me's sometimes exhaustin'

Angie Ledbetter said...

Mr. Sullivan, bravissimo! (And I can't wait for new posts on your blog. Addictive...'specially your notes from jury hell.) :)

Anonymous said...

Just poking my head in and smiling at all the works. So cute, but I'm not good on them, thanks, angie, loves 'em!!!

Hilary said...

If you don't mind, I'm going to use your own limerick as my prompt:

When something took hold of my noggin
I clicked on a link and I loggged in.
I typed something quick,
And uploaded a pic,
And that's how I ended up bloggin'.

Hilary said...

Writing the above was a breeze
But I reread it with mild unease.
The word "loggged" stood right out,
As I stared with self-doubt,
At my over-abundance of G's

Angie Ledbetter said...

Glad ya stopped in for the fun, Kimmi. :)

Hilary, that's FANtastic!

Oh, Hil, and if possible, the second is even better. LOL on the "over-abundance of G's." You're good at crafting limericks.

Anonymous said...

Angie... Be careful what you ask for - my self-edit button's on the blink, so here's the whole darn thing... based on an episode of my misspent youth.

DIRTY DAN THE ICE CREAM MAN

(OR “The Worst Thing I Ever Did”)

By Deb Lambert


There once was a man with a truck,
The ice cream was less than a buck.
He was grumpy and shrewd -
Unbelievably rude,
The man was really a schmuck.


Our moms didn’t like his look,
He appeared some sort of a crook.
And, oh my gosh,
Did he ever wash?
That scruffiest gray-hued schnook.


He mumbled whenever he’d talk,
Was clad in a dingy white smock.
We thought he might cheat,
Standing there in the street.
Of our change we always took stock.


Three cheers for the tight waxy wrap,
As we spied his dirty old cap.
Frozen treats kept clean
In that old machine.
We’d open them up with a “snap!”


A face all stubbly and gray,
He’d stop when adults yelled “Hey!”
The seed was sown,
The blame I own,
As I approached that fateful day.


It was the summer that I turned eight,
My whistling was coming along great.
As I played with the dog,
Through a gasoline smog,
Came the fickle finger of fate.


Well, next I let go a whistle,
A truly ear-piercing missile.
The truck did halt,
It was my fault.
Oh my, he really did bristle!

From my vantage point in the yard,
(You know I’m forever scarred)
I watched him get out,
Start to mumble and shout.
That’s when I hit the ground, hard!


‘Neath the bushes I trembled in fear,
He looked to the front and then to the rear.
He looked to the west,
Then continued his quest,
Not knowing the culprit was near.


Finally, he gave up the search,
The truck gave a great forward lurch.
Spared from the shame,
I never mentioned my game.
My secret since died with the birch.


Discouraged from calling of names,
Mom unwittingly fanned the flames,
Singing “Dirty Dan,
The Ice Cream Man”...
Adding spice to my childhood games.


What was the tune from that dirty old truck?
“Turkey in the Straw” - what appropriate luck!
For the lyrics I learned
Are forever burned...
In my head, quite stubbornly stuck.....

“Oh you dirty little devil, does your mother know you’re out,
with your hands in your pockets and your shirt flaps out?”


©Deb Lambert 2008

Angie Ledbetter said...

Deb, what can I say besides WOW? (Glad you aren't in my poetry class. I'd hate to follow that!) :)

Linda Hoye said...

What a fun post - and a great inspiration. If I hadn't just gotten home from working a 12 hour day....again....I would try my hand. Just popped by th say "thank you" for the little suprise that greeted me when I got home today! It brightned, what has been an incredible stressful day. Thanks!

Linda Hoye said...

What a fun post - and a great inspiration. If I hadn't just gotten home from working a 12 hour day....again....I would try my hand. Just popped by th say "thank you" for the little suprise that greeted me when I got home today! It brightned, what has been an incredible stressful day. Thanks!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Linda, sorry 'bout your bad long day. Here, since you were the lucky winner of the Al E. Gator contest, I'll submit a limerick for ya. :)

There once was a worker named Linda

Office peeps put her through the blender

She did all she could

To try to work good

Till one day she went on a bender.

*smile* and hope your day's better tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Angie,
After thinking on it all day, sort of, all I could come up with is not fit for mixed company. Hope I hear from the peanut gallery on this.
Oren

colbymarshall said...

True story:

There once was a glorious llama
She did cast her vote for Obama
Her family for McCain
They thought her insane
In the end, a lot of pointless drama.

Angie Ledbetter said...

Well, Oren, at least you were thinking about poetry! No word from peanut gallery. Getting worried.

Colby, great entry. Thanks!

M. Bail said...

I can't possibly follow Dirty Dan the Ice Cream Man! That's awesome. But my creative spigot has run dry this evening after a long day of work, a complete short story, and progress on my senior seminar presentation and paper. I'm beat. Can't wait to see what's here tomorrow, though!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Embee, you did plenty o' writing without a limerick. Congrats on all that progress, now go get some rest! Enjoyed your short story earlier.

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