Dear Conductor (Limerick)

Three Word Wednesday asks us to use Beat, Pressure, and Substance in a poem. In substance, I’ve beaten them into submission, pressuring those words to fit into this limerick:

Dear Conductor (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear conductor, you think you’re elite,
But in substance, you’re always off beat.
You pressure musicians
With harsh admonitions.
To follow your stick’s no mean feat.

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12 Responses to “Dear Conductor (Limerick)”

  1. Rinkly Rimes says:

    That sounds like the voice of experience!

  2. madkane says:

    Rinkly, you’re right! I’ve played the oboe in many symphony orchestras over the years. And I’ve encountered more than my fair share of awful conductors. :)

  3. Mary Ann says:

    More limerick than humor, I think.

  4. Bob Dvorak says:

    Is it pressure to win, why they cheat?
    The desire to never be beat?
    He’ll now be renowned
    For the substance they found —
    Cabrera’s no longer elite.

    …SF Giants’ Melky Cabrera has been suspended for 50 games with the announcement that he tested positive for testosterone. I presume that test would be looking for something above what one might consider a normal level.

    P.S. My conducting skills were never the greatest — but not the worst, either. Except my debut, for which I will never excuse myself (it was atrocious — but I learned from it).

  5. RMP says:

    nice! I can hear the conductor tapping his sticks on the stand and grunting at the musicians.

  6. Carrie says:

    Awesome. Very well done :)

  7. Poet Laundry says:

    in substance, you’re always off beat

    …love it!

  8. Paige says:

    brava! well done madeleine.

  9. Altonian says:

    Brilliant limerick; one of the best I’ve seen for a very long time, and so very true in many unfortunate cases. Clap, clap!

  10. madkane says:

    Thanks so much everyone for your enthusiastic comments!

  11. Ooh! What instrument do you play?

  12. madkane says:

    Oboe was my main instrument. I also played English horn, flute and piano.