My Dear Times: I am irked and irate
Cuz Connections and Wordle are great!
And they’ve caused my affliction,
A puzzling addiction.
Kindly STOP using word games as bait!
Archive for the ‘Letter Limericks’ Category
My Puzzling Complaint (Limerick)
Monday, April 1st, 2024Dear Postman (Limerick)
Sunday, February 13th, 2022Dear Sir: We might like that last batch
Of mail, were it not for this catch:
Not one piece was addressed
To the Kanes; ’twould be best
To bring mail meant for US with dispatch.
Dear Long Island Rail Road (Limerick)
Monday, April 20th, 2015Happy “meeting anniversary” to my wonderful husband Mark. (April 20, 1977, aboard the LIRR)
Dear Long Island Rail Road, my debt
To your system, I’ll never forget.
Back in Seventy-Seven
Your train car was heaven:
‘Twas the place where my spouse and I met.
(More epistolary poems here.)
UPDATE: Someone on Facebook asked for more details about our meeting on the train. Here’s what I wrote:
Re your questions, for some odd reason (possibly love at first sight, which I don’t even believe in) I did something very uncharacteristic of me when I saw Mark come bopping up the train’s aisle: I smiled and gave him “the eye.” He just looked so handsome and cute, and I liked his eyes and willed him to sit across from me. (It was the end of a long, tiring day — a full day of law school, followed by a trip into Manhattan for a symphony orchestra rehearsal. And I was feeling both exhausted and hyper.)
Anyway, Mark smiled back and then, much to my chagrin, he kept on bopping past me and past lots of empty seats and went into the next train car.
I figured I’d never see him again and then, suddenly, Mark returned to my car, walked past the empty seats again, and sat across from me. His first words to me were: “Boy, you look tired!” Which provoked a monologue by me about everything I’d done that day, followed by a monologue by him detailing his rather full day.
Seven weeks later, we were engaged.
Limerick Ode To National Poetry Month
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011April 1st is coming. Are you excited yet? No, I’m not talking about April Fool’s Day, although that’s pretty cool too. But April 1st is also the start of a month-long celebration of poetry in the U.S.A. — National Poetry Month (not to be confused with World Poetry Day.) Many online poets celebrate by writing a poem each day, and they announce their poetic participation over at NaPoWriMo.
So will I be writing a limerick a day in April? Damn right … with the occasional haiku, tanka, quatrain, or butterfly cinquain thrown in to spice things up. And of course I’ll be posting my weekly Limerick-Offs and Limerick of the Week contests every Sunday or Monday.
Here’s my Limerick Ode To National Poetry Month:
Limerick Ode To National Poetry Month (April 2011)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Dear poets, it’s time to prepare
For our April-long poetry fair.
We’ll write verse ev’ry day.
Not on Tax Day? Okay.
Just be sure that you read, write, and share.
Here are some good poetry sites that plan to celebrate National Poetry Month in a big way with daily prompts: Big Tent Poetry and Poetic Asides. Additionally, Writers Island will be providing a daily spot to post your April poems. And if that’s not enough, some sites offer daily prompts all year long, such as The Teachers Corner and Dodge Writes.
Moreover, New York City is holding two poetry contests in honor of National Poetry Month: NYC’s second annual Twitter poetry “Poetweet” contest and its “Poem In Your Pocket Day NYC” Facebook page “Envelope Project.”
If you know of any other National Poetry Day events, contests, and/or prompts, feel free to post them here in the comments section. Thanks!
Dear Calendar
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011Dear Calendar (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Dear calendar, why are you lying?
You claim that it’s spring. I’m not buying.
We had one lovely day,
But now snow’s on the way.
You’ve betrayed us — there’s no use denying.
(Inspired by this spring prompt and, of course, the damn New York City weather. Posted also at Write A Letter, Jingle Poetry’s deception and misrepresentation prompt, and at Poetic Asides.)
Dearest Condescending Darling (Limerick)
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011This limerick was inspired by some patronizing, condescending comments made on a Facebook Friend’s wall:
Dearest Condescending Darling
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Dear sweetheart, the “darling” address
Condescends and is irksome unless
It’s said by a spouse
Or a lover, dear louse.
For most others, it means to aggress.
(Posted at I Saw Sunday.)
Limerick Odes To Charlie Sheen
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011After flunking (badly) The Guardian’s Who Said This — Gaddafi or Charlie Sheen quiz, I forced myself to watch ABC’s entire 20/20 Charlie Sheen interview conducted (I’m not sure how) by Andrea Canning. Yikes!
I’m no shrink, but if Sheen isn’t certifiable, I can’t imagine who is. Yet Sheen’s suing CBS and Warner Bros. for canceling Two and a Half Men. CBS and Warner Bros. should keep a copy on hand of ABC’s interview. Because that show gives CBS all the ammunition it needs to defeat Sheen’s case. We’re talking loony-tunes-uninsurable!
And so, Charlie Sheen has earned himself two “Dear Charlie” letter limericks. Here’s the first:
Dear Charlie, you’re acting bizarre.
We don’t need yet another sick star.
You appear on the brink
Of a breakdown, yet think
You’re not crazy, which proves that you are.
And here’s my second limerick:
Dear Charlie, you’re losing your sheen.
Once funny, you’re now turning mean.
It’s clear that you’re sick.
Get some help. Do it quick!
And stop wasting your comedy gene.
(You can find more letters at Write A Letter.)
Dear Prattlers
Thursday, February 24th, 2011Dear Prattlers
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Dear prattlers, I beg you — stop talking.
If you don’t, I’ll escape. Watch — I’m walking.
I have pains in each joint,
As I wait for your point.
Oh my no! It’s insurance you’re hawking?
Update: June 28 is National Insurance Awareness Day.
How To Muck Up Gift-Giving
Monday, January 11th, 2010Some men send their wives Hallmark greeting cards. Then there’s Dick Kleis of Zwingle, Iowa, who got a bit more “creative” on his wife Carole’s birthday. He spent three hours spelling out a huge love note in 120,000 pounds of “good, soft, gushy, warm” manure. And proving that there’s no accounting for taste, his wife actually liked it, saying her hubby “dung good”.
Attention, dear hubby Mark … and any other man who might be inspired by this story on a birthday, anniversary, or Valentine’s Day: Don’t even think about it!
And that brings me to my latest limerick:
How To Muck Up Gift-Giving
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Dear hubby, I’d really be miffed
If you gave me manure as a gift.
Now I don’t expect plush
If you ain’t feeling flush.
But dung? Sweet revenge will be swift.
Dear Spring
Thursday, April 24th, 2008Dear Spring
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Dear spring, you are late once again.
Yet you claim that you’ve been here, since when?
Thirty days? That can’t be:
It’s still cold out, you see.
And some sun would be nice, now and then.
Note: I feel almost guilty posting this, since yesterday’s weather was delightful. But a couple of days ago, when Totally Optional Prompts prompted me to write it, it was unseasonably cold.
Dear IRS
Sunday, April 20th, 2008I thought I was through bitching about taxes and the IRS for at least a few months. But apparently not:
Dear IRS
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Dear folks at the Fed IRS,
Your rules and your regs are a mess.
You’re unfair to the poor.
Middle class? Even more.
So beware, cuz I know your address.
Note to the FBI, the IRS, and Homeland Security: This is a humor blog, so please don’t arrest me. Thanks for … uh … listening.
