There Once was a Man from....

So, it's Limerick Day to recognize the birth of the writer, Edward Lear, who popularized the poem with a book in 1846.  The poems are named for a city in Ireland where they were born.

The rules for limericks don't require counting of syllables - just five lines with the 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines rhyming and the 3rd and 4th lines rhyming with each other.

(No, no one has to be from Nantucket, either.)

It seemed like a good time to kite,
But the paper would not take flight.
Using wire for tying,
Was not so inspiring.
For the kite-maker wasn't too bright.

                  #########

The boats on the water were trippin'
To prove themselves best for some fishin.'
Beer and snacks were on board
It was all they could afford.
So the lures were just used for dippin.'

                 #########

For a year and a half now I've been blogging,
It eats up more calories than jogging.
Commas, caps, and delete,
I type with my feet.
Lots of time on my seat I keep logging.

               ##########

Those are my feeble efforts at limericking - they follow the rules, but certainly aren't award-winning.  It seems that sometimes that attempting something different will help stretch your mind.

I never once wrote a limerick,
Unless in the dirt with a stick.
It's best by a mile,
If done with a smile.
Limericking for me is a trick.

               ###########

Thanks Mr. Lear, and to my very own family poet, my Dad... who loved to write and was asked often to compose them for friends and co-workers to mark special occasions.

I'm not half the writer he was, but on a day set aside for limerick lovers - it can't hurt to try.

Happy Limerick Day!